Waiting For The End
by Mazula
Summary: Two human girls are sucked into an all new reality, and must help these new, robotic beings combat an evil that is much unexpected. Darkness is not the only evil of their world, and light is not always a savior. Now they must fight to keep from falling from their new graces and restore the balance of their new world.
1. This is not the End

**Waiting for the End.**

Ch. 1

This is not the end.

_A/N~ Haters, they be hatin'~ Trolls, they be trollin'~ Flamers, they be flamin'~ Hounds, they be houndin'~ And haters, they be hatin'~ Hater's gonna hate~ X3_

_Ah, Ode to Thy Trolls United, thine refuses to obey thee's wish of termination. So SUCK IT~_

_Thanks to all the love from mine and StormSeeker123's supporters on this! Enjoy the revamped version!_

_Writers unite, and Revolt!_

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

Raining…

It was raining. _Again_.

'_It's the tenth time this month…' _she thought, staring blankly out of the broken, dirty window.

Piper blinked slowly, her brown eyes slightly glazed, as she watched rain drops hit the cracked glass and slither down the termite-bitten window sill. Ghostly shadows danced against the splintered walls around her, each rain drop casting its own dark imprint onto the old surfaces. She vaguely noted in the back of her head that she or her sister would have to climb up onto the thin metal roof and weigh it down with more rocks later; the metal sheets were rattling from the howling wind, and a draft was starting to pour into the rundown shanty. Although, the small shack wasn't exactly insulated to begin with, or very hospitable. But then again, she was somewhat thankful it was rain and now snow…

The shanty was about eight feet wide and seven feet long, barely big enough to fit three people. The wood of the old shanty was splintered, moldy, and termite ridden. Rusty nails stuck out in numerous places, some older than others; a good few of them were recently re-used to try and seal up holes and hold down planks, though they had been poorly hammered due to amateur hands that had to use rocks for hammers.

Bugs crawled here and there, mostly harmless, but most scary looking. All that was in the old shed was trash from people who no doubt once used it, as well as the occasional homeless person. It smelt of rotting wood, rusted metal, and other unmentionable smells that she nor her sister dared to name.

But, it was home for now…

'_It's a better home than back there…' _she thought bitterly, unconsciously glaring at the back wall, her overgrown nails digging harshly into the soft, rotting wood of the floor she sat on.

"Piper…?" a tired voice called.

Blinking away her haze, the named girl swiftly turned her head to look behind herself, her short pigtails rustling from the swift turn. She sighed as she watched her sister rise into a sitting position from their bed. Their little nest consisted mainly of their own clothes and an old tarp they found inside the shanty they now resided in, as well as their backpacks.

Piper watched her sister wipe the sleep from her equally brown eyes and her free hand grope along the top of a 'table' for her glasses. Said table was merely a piece of jagged wood on top of an overturned bucket.

"Here…" Piper picked the square rimmed glasses up, seeing as her sister wasn't finding them, and handed them to her, "Did I wake you?"

"Hmm? No, just couldn't sleep that well." Said the short haired blond.

Piper nodded and sighed, crossing her legs together.

Piper was a young girl a little over five feet tall, and had black hair tied into two short pigtails. She wore a plain, worn black tee-shirt with ripped sleeves, and grey-black jeans with larger-than-life holes in the knees. She is normally seen wearing a black and purple hoodie, but that was currently being used as bedding in their little sleeping pile. She had a white bandage over her left cheek from a recent injury, and wore skull studded earrings. And on her left shoulder, just on the knob, was a star shaped birthmark. Her clunky black boots, both of which were caked with mud on the bottoms, sat by the poor excuse for a door.

"You me both…" she yawned, tired but like her sister, unable to sleep.

Pepper nodded and stretched the stiffness out of her arms, adjusting her glasses.

Pepper, Piper's older fraternal twin sister by five minutes, was maybe an inch or two shorter than Piper and had very short blond hair, but the same colored eyes. She wore a black and royal blue stripped shirt riddled with numerous holes, and a worn, tattered blue-black plaid scarf around her neck. Her glasses, while not new, were in rather poor condition and cracked in a few places, the lenses smudged and foggy. She wore vintage washed blue jeans with holes like Piper's in the knees, her old-as-dirt and torn at the seams sneakers over next to her sister's large boots; they were also caked in mud. She also had a birthmark, but on the knob of her right shoulder, and was in the shape of a crescent moon.

Both of them were in poor conditions. Their clothes were filthy and had numerous tears and holes. They were both thin and malnourished, having not eaten in almost two days. They had plenty of water at least; the constant rain was continuously filling the buckets they kept outside for them, and the small creak nearby was clean and safe to drink out of. Cuts and bruises littered their bodies, most of which were concealed by their clothes, but still noticeable on their arms and faces.

"So…" Piper started, "It's barely even morning, what should we do?" she asked.

"I'd like for us to get some breakfast but…" Pepper trailed off, sighing.

"Yeah…" Piper nodded, frowning at the floor.

Primarily during their stay in the shanty, they would slip into the nearby town and scavenge the restaurant dumpsters for any food. But they were recently caught, and from then on the dumps have been under heavy watch to keep away the 'homeless trash'. One of the restaurants even got guard dogs! All because they wanted some lousy old sandwiches the place wasn't even going to serve and just throw away!

"Bakas…" Piper growled.

"Yup…" Pepper agreed, just as disgruntled, _'Who in their right mind uses dogs to guard DUMPSTERS?' _she thought.

Silence descended upon the two sisters at that moment, as if all hope of a decent conversation had suddenly fell over and died. Which was kind of the case at the time. Both of them were just too tired and hungry to talk.

Pepper lowered her gaze and shifted them to the two bags being used as pillows. The dark blue one with the embroidered moon was hers, the purple one with the black kitty patch was Piper's. Inside her bag was simply a knitted hat, some yarn and knitting needles, some paper, charcoal, a flashlight with a low battery, and an extra shirt. Piper's bag had a handheld sketchbook with a single pen, two or three manga books, a traveling sewing kit, some cloth, her favorite fingerless gloves, and a dull pocket knife. Both of them had a colored ribbon tied to their straps, one purple, the other a royal blue; they had faint red stains on them, a painful reminder of what she and her sister had experienced before they left home…

There was also a dull hatchet and some rope in the corner, both of which had been found in the shanty and used for most of their means of survival.

"Well…" Piper started, standing up uneasily from fatigue, "No sense in sitting here and starving." She said.

"You're not going out to try and hunt again, are you?" Pepper asked, worried for her younger sister.

"We don't have much of a choice sis," Piper said, slipping on her hoodie and digging the pocket knife out of her bag. She stuffed it into the pocket of her hoodie and slung her bag over her shoulder, turning to Pepper, "You gonna come?" she asked.

Pepper sighed, shaking her head at her sister's stubbornness. The last time they had tried to catch something, both had come back with more cuts and bruises then when they left, and had only succeeded in catching each other in their so called 'traps'. They tried fishing, but only ended up getting soaking wet and risking themselves to sickness. The only outdoor technique they could somewhat manage was starting a small fire, and they couldn't bring that into the shanty unless they wanted to burn it down.

'_Maybe we'll get lucky this time?' _she wondered, then frowned to herself. Since when were they _ever _lucky?

"Sis?" Piper asked, giving her sister a worried look, "You don't have to come if you-"

"No, I'll go with you," Pepper said, steadily getting up as well and giving her sister a light smile, "Can't have my little sister getting stuck in her own trap without help now can I?" she teased.

Piper stuck her tongue out at her, "Yeah, and who exactly was it that ran face-first into a tree because she tripped over a pebble?" she said, grabbing the hatchet and strapping it to the loose belt of her bag strap.

"Oh shut up! You got caught in your own trap!" Pepper laughed as she and her sister got their shoes on and tied some rope to her waist for later use.

"…you tripped over a pebble."

"Yes Piper, I tripped over a pebble, you got caught in your own trap. We're both klutz's."

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

"Geez, maybe we should have waited for the rain to let up a bit?" Pepper said, wiping her glasses of rainwater for what had to be the millionth time.

"Yeah, maybe, but then we would have been stuck in that shed all day." Piper said.

"Still, would have been easier, not all of use wear boots you know."

"No excuses for _not _wearing boots."

Pepper rolled her eyes playfully, adjusting her glasses over the bridge of her nose. She stopped however when she realized where they were going.

Piper, noticing her sister was not following her, turned around and looked at her.

"What's up? Change your mind?" She asked curiously. Pepper frowned uncertainly.

"Piper, don't you remember this trail?" Pepper asked, giving her sister a somewhat uneasy look.

Piper blinked and looked back into the tunnel of foliage she had planned to enter. It took her a moment, but after a while, she seemed to remember what was down there and cringed.

"Right…" she sighed, suddenly both angry and depressed. She heard Pepper sigh behind her.

"Let's try a different trail," she said, "There wasn't really that much down there anyways when we first went there…"

Piper nodded numbly, still gazing into the dark depths of the wooded tunnel. She couldn't help but feel some other emotion besides unease. That place had always given her an odd feeling. Not so much as to be called a bad or creepy feeling, but more of an uneasy caution. Like an instinct that only ever awakens in a person when there is a strong foreboding. Both she and her sister got the feeling from that trail, and it always seemed to get stronger every time they came within a small distance of the trail. Though it wasn't the reason _why_ they stayed away from it…

"Piper!" She heard Pepper call, "Come on or we'll get separated!"

"Oh, coming!" Piper called, seeing her sister now a few yards off to start on a separate trail. She quickly ran and caught up to her, but only after risking another glance at the dark trail she and her sister both vowed never to enter so long ago…

A couple hours or so later found Piper and Pepper heading down a small trail they sometimes took to either try and find food, water, or do their own personal business. So far, not much was being seen, not even a bird or lizard in sight. It would be evening soon, and both were starving and having no luck in finding any form of food…

"This is stupid…" Piper rasped, both frustrated and a little put out from their lack of progress, as well as fatigue.

"I know sis, but we gotta keep trying…" Pepper sighed, looking through yet another bush to try and find either a small animal or maybe some berries. No such luck yet…

"We've been up and down this trail for hours, sis," Piper said, "If we haven't found something yet, I doubt we'll find anything now." She reasoned. Pepper looked up at her, a bit frustrated.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" she asked.

Piper got an odd look on her face. But Pepper knew this look well.

"Piper…?" She urged.

"A while back…" Piper started, frowning at the ground, "I remember seeing a large thicket of black berries." She said. Pepper perked up both in surprise and apprehension.

"Really? Where? When was this?" She asked, eager to hopefully find some food.

"…it was _back there_…" Piper said, almost too quietly for Pepper to hear.

But she heard her. She heard her loud and clean, and suddenly a cold ball of dread dropped into Pepper's empty stomach. She froze up and shuddered, turning her gaze downwards. Of course, where else would sick irony put their last hope of food?

"So…" Piper started, "What do you wanna do?" she asked her sister, looking at her with a mix of determination and hesitation.

Pepper looked back at her younger sister, unable to deny the look in the pigtailed girl's eyes; she was going in there with or without her sister, even if she protested against it. Piper was a very stubborn girl, and had an overly large sense of duty to those she cared about. Even if there was a single piece of candy inside of a burning building, she would waste no time in going in and getting it to bring back to share with her sister. If it would help them or would determine their survival, Piper acts before she thinks.

But there was a reason the girls did not go _there._ That trail was…there was just something off about it. No one went there. It was that one place every small town has that everyone knows to stay away from. It was _dangerous_. No one knew why, but it just _was._

"_If you go there, you will never return…"_ they cringed internally at the familiar voice, spoken to them only mere weeks ago.

People never went there because people _never came back._ Kids who went there on dares never came back, and bodies were never found. Hikers, explorers, tourists, or people who were unfortunate and got lost who went down that trail never came back. The girls could clearly remember the various 'missing person' posters at the grocery store every now and again. The posters were years old, the locals long since learning to stay away. Not even kids go there because of the all too real danger of the unknown.

Call them superstitious or paranoid, but when some fifty plus people have gone missing in a single area, with no one ever being found, that usually calls for grounds to be cautious.

"…you're going to go even if I say no, aren't you?" she said, more as a statement than an actual question.

"Yup." No hesitation. Pepper sighed.

"Then I guess I'm going with you." She said.

"You don't have too…" Piper said.

"I want to though…"

Piper slowly nodded, adjusting the strap of her bag.

"Alright…" She said, "Well, let's get going."

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

Both stood before the entrance to the dark trail to where Piper last saw the thicket of black berries. And it seemed the closer they got to it, the hungrier they became. Now it wasn't so much a matter of hesitation, but more of a matter of how fast they could go in and get out with their food. And hopefully their lives.

If it was still there that is. It's been a whole month since they last went down that trail, and that was only because they got lost and got out before anything could happen. They were playing a small gamble as to whether the bush was still there or not…

They both gave each other one last look, as if to gauge the other's reaction or see if the other changed their mind. Hesitation was present in their eyes, but also a sense of determination. They proceeded down the trail without a second thought. It was silent for the first ten minutes of the trek, but it was eventually broken by Pepper.

"It's kind of weird…" she said, looking around.

"What is?" Piper asked curiously.

"Well, even though we've only been down here briefly, I've noticed that there's no noise or animals," Pepper said, "But over by our shed and down the other trails, there's birds, lizards, bugs, everything. So why not over here?" she asked.

Piper frowned at this, looking around in the trees and bushes. Her sister was right though; whenever she or her sister same close to or near the mouth of the trail, it was still as death with hardly any wildlife. It was like this even before they came to the area. It hadn't really bothered Piper up until her sister brought it up. All the other trails they took had tons of wildlife (all of which they seemed incapable of catching), but this trail never so much as had a rabbit or bird…

'_Did whatever cause those disappearances go after animals too?'_ Piper thought with a frown, _'Or are the animals just smart enough to stay away?'_

"Yeah, that is a bit odd…" she said, now a bit on edge due to her natural paranoia.

Pepper watched her sister's eyes shift to every direction they would look to, a little bit nervous now. She was starting to wonder if maybe some large predator lived down the trail, or something more sinister. The local kids always had some legend or theory. Mostly having to do with ghosts, monsters, mythical creatures – there were even some who said the end of the trail led to another dimension. The girls didn't give much thought to the last theory, and were more inclined to believe a rogue animal lived there. Maybe a bear or mountain lion lived around there? She didn't know. But she was a bit thankful that her sister brought the hatchet and pocket knife. Although they would be somewhat useless against a large predator, now that she thought about it…

'_Or a monster…' _she thought.

"We're almost there…" Piper said quietly, as if afraid of waking up some kind of beast.

Both girls softened their footsteps, the foliage under their feet crunching softly and the dirt shifting soundlessly. They took their time walking until they entered a small clearing, the very end of the trail.

The clearing was maybe about ten feet wide and twelve feet across, and in a slight oblong shape. Most of it was covered in harmless ivy leaves and bushes and trees. The light rain was almost completely blocked out by the thick tree canopy above them. And right in the back of the clearing, was a black berry thicket…

"There they are…" Piper said.

Pepper nodded, but neither made a move towards the bush of small fruits. That heavy weight of foreboding and dread was pressing harder into their guts. The air was thick with an ominous air, like they were being watched by something utterly evil. They could hear and feel their hearts beating against their ribs, and they had to wonder if whatever was out here could hear it too.

A full ten minutes passed before any of the girls moved. Pepper swallowed dryly as he stomach grumbled. She reached over and placed a comforting hand on her sister's rigid shoulder, causing her to flinch.

"Just an in and out deal…" she said, "Fast and easy, like a bandaid."

"Yeah…" Piper said, starting to compose herself, "Like a bandaid…"

Using every ounce of their self-control, both girls forced their feet to move and speed-walked to the berry bushes.

Together the two picked the berries in silence, each filling the small inner pouch in their bags with the dark ripe fruits. They vaguely noted how large they were and the slight discoloration along the tops, but wrote it off as them being wild.

Ten to fifteen minutes passed before the pockets of their bags were full, and their own hunger drove them to take a break. They sat down under a tree on the far right side of the clearing just at the edge of the berry bushes.

"God I'm starving…" Piper rasped, digging into the pocket of her bag to take out a few berries.

"Me too," Pepper said, equally exhausted, "But let's just eat the berries off the vines and save the ones in our bags for later."

"Oh, right." Piper said, putting her handful of berries away.

Both sat back and deftly started picking berries off of the vines again, this time popping them into their mouths instead of their bags. The berries also tasted different too; instead of a more tart and sweet flavor of store bought black berries, they were more mellow and tangy-sweet. They almost had a tongue-tingly feeling you normally get from drinking soda. But despite their odd flavor, they were _very _good.

The girls seemed to fully forget about that strange, ominous feeling the trail gave them. Slowly it seemed to bleed away from their resolve, and they started to relax in the natural setting, both shielded from the rain by the dark canopy.

By now, the girls had devoured a good amount from the bushes before their hunger was even remotely sated. They practically ate two and a half bushes worth of berries before they were finally satisfied and full.

"Ahh…" Piper sighed, picking a seed from her teeth, "SO much better."

"I know!" Pepper laughed, licking some berry juice that had leaked onto her fingers and lips, "They filled us up pretty well too."

"Good thing too, I was honestly starting to consider taking a note from cows and eating the grass." Piper said with a silly grin.

Pepper laughed and rolled her eyes, both lying back against the tree they were under. They stared up into the light-speckled canopy in wonder. The darkness of the canopy mixed with the tiny slivers of light reminded them of the night sky. There was only one large hole in the canopy that let a little bit of light through in a full circle that reminded them of a moon.

"It's pretty out here…" Piper commented wistfully.

"Yeah…" Pepper said quietly.

A sudden wave of drowsiness passed over them. Both had not slept more than an hour the entire time they were staying in their little shack, and the tree and the grass they were on suddenly seemed like a luxury sofa…

"Peps…" Piper started sleepily, "M'tired…"

"Mm-hm…me too…" Pepper yawned, her eyes drifting closed and her head lolling against Piper's shoulder.

"Hmm…" Piper hummed, her own eyes dropping closed as her own head clunked against Pepper's, unable to fight the urge to sleep any longer.

They were both asleep within minutes…

To be continued…

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

_A/N~ Nope, not gonna be kept down. All you haters, hounds, and trolls can kiss my ass and eat sh**!_

_~Mazula and StormSeeker123 (aka Earthquakes123)_


	2. This is not the Beginning

**Waiting for the End.**

Ch. 2

This is not the beginning.

Characters: Piper (OC), Pepper (OC).

Universe: Bionicle, AU.

Genre: Angst, hurt/comfort, adventure.

_Writers unite, and Revolt!_

_Enjoy!_

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

Drip!

Pepper's nose scrunched up from the drop of cold water hitting her nose. She groaned and turned her head so it was buried halfway into the grass she was lying on, her hands clenching a fistful of the crisp green blades.

Drip!

"Mmm…" She groaned again, frowning as she slowly started to wake. But she didn't want to wake up yet…

Drip!

"Ugh…" Pepper growled and sat up, rubbing her eyes under her glasses, "Alright, alright I'm-…"

_Drip…_

"…up…"

She stared. It was all she could do honestly. Who wouldn't stare?

'_Where…where am I…?'_ she thought, completely bewildered.

Stones. They were everywhere. All of them sporting strange markings and pictures, some in forms of tall pillars, maybe twenty feet tall, others broken and resembling nothing but ruins. The clearing was completely submerged in dense fog, the ground barely visible in only a few open patches.

Pepper slowly sat up on her knees and looked around, wondering if maybe her glasses were far more damaged than they were, or if maybe the berries she ate were some kind of hallucinogen. Or maybe she was dreaming…

"Oh…my…god…" she rasped, eyes wide.

In the dead center of the once flat clearing was a raised stone platform in the shape of a hexagon. There stood six tall stone pillars riddled with the same strange marks and pictures at each corner of the hexagon, each one completely unscathed and unscratched. And in the dead center of the hexagon shaped platform and the pillars, was a raised dome.

Slowly, as if afraid something was going to jump out and attack her, Pepper reached over and shook her sister's shoulder.

"Piper…Piper…!" She rasped harshly.

"Uhn, go 'way, tryin' to sleep…" Piper mumbled, pulling the hood of her hoodie over her eyes.

Pepper didn't even have the state of mind to roll her eyes.

"PIPER!" She shouted.

"WHAT!?" Piper yelled, more in shock than anger, as she shot up and looked around, as if in a daze.

Pepper merely continued to stare ahead and raised a shaky finger to point in front of her. Piper blinked hazily and turned her gaze to where her sister was pointing. The sleep and haze from her eyes instantly vanished as they widened in utter shock.

Slow as a glacier, she sat up from her lying down position on the dew covered ground, her mouth suddenly dry and her skin clammy. She sat up beside her sister, both staring wide eyed at the strange place they suddenly found themselves in.

Moments passed before Piper found her voice.

"Where…" She rasped, "Where…are we…?"

"I-I don't know," Pepper stuttered, "I-I just woke up and…we were just…here!"

Piper didn't respond, but instead slowly stood up, pulling her sister up with her. Both clutched to the other's arm as they shakily stood and looked around.

Everything was different. The fog was a milky grey-white and covered almost everything, and the grass seemed darker and strangely dry. The trees around them were still there, but behind the first layer of trees was a complete wall of fog that prevented them from seeing anywhere passed the trees and bushes. It was so thick, you would need an industrial diamond cutter to cut through it.

"Pepper…what are all these…stones?" Piper asked shakily.

"I don't know…" Pepper breathed, both in awe and a bit of fear from the sudden change in their environment, "Are…are we dreaming?"

Piper considered this. She quickly bent down and picked up her bag, taking out her pocket knife. She flicked it open and raised her index finger, flicking it against the tip-

"Ouch!" she flinched, shaking her hand out.

A small bead of red swelled out of the tiny puncture from her finger and smoothly dripped onto the dark grass, staining against the green of the still blades. She and Pepper stared at the splatted spot before slowly looking up at Piper's steadily bleeding finger.

It had hurt. Injuries in dreams aren't supposed to hurt.

This wasn't a dream…

Pepper was suddenly shocked out of her stupor when Piper's hand moved out of her line of vision. She blinked rapidly and watched as her sister started cautiously for the hexagon platform.

"P-Piper! Wait! What are you doing?" She called, chasing after her sister.

Piper didn't answer, instead she climbed the steep step up onto the platform. She approached one of the pillars and studied the strange markings, all of which seemed to be simple circles with different lines and dots inside of them.

"Wow…" she said, tracing one of the markings.

"Piper! Don't touch anything!" Pepper yelled, yanking her sister away from the strange pillar, "We don't know what these things are!"

"Big rocks?" Piper asked.

"Well…maybe, but that's not the point! The point is we ended up here somehow and don't even know why!" Pepper said, a bit hysterical now.

Piper turned away from the pillar and grabbed her sister's hand comfortingly, squeezing reassuringly.

"Peps, I think we're fine," She started, "If something was going to happen to us, I think it would have happened by now." She said.

Pepper withheld the urge to groan. Despite how paranoid her sister could be, she was always just jumping head-first into things! It someone in their late 60s was sitting on a park bench reading a paper, she'd have her eyes on them like a schizophrenic hawk. But if it was new, interesting, odd looking, or just plain weird, she drops her paranoia and runs right up to it like a kid to a candy store with mommy's credit card. It absolutely made no sense!

"Hm?" Pepper swiftly turned her head, her eyes settled onto the stone dome in the center of the platform. She could have sworn she heard something…

"Hey Peps, have you ever seen these kinds of…markings? Writing…? Anywhere?" Piper asked, studying a few other markings. But when she got no response, she looked up, "Pepper?"

Pepper wasn't paying much attention to her sister. She was far too focused on the odd dome in the center of the hexagon. It was so strange. The entire thing was smooth as silk, without so much as a scratch or chip in it. Just along the base of the dome was a raised stone ring around it, and aligned to each corner of the hexagon, was a small pit on the sides of the dome…

'_What are these…?'_ Pepper thought, kneeling down to have a look inside one of the pits.

It was pitch black inside it, and like hell she was going to stick her hand in it! It was like it went on for a mile or something…

"Whatcha see?" Piper asked, now joining her sister in front of the adult-fist sized hole.

"I don't know," Pepper said, squinting her eyes and adjusting her glasses, "But…I think I see something inside of it."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I can't really say what it is, and I'm not gonna stick my hand in there." Pepper said with a tone of finality.

"Not even if it was a sandwich?"

"Not even if it was the golden sandwich of El Dorado."

"You just made that up."

"Hey, you never know. It just might exist!"

"Hmm…" Pieper hummed for a moment before getting up and sprinting for the clearing's edge.

Pepper watched, slightly perplexed, before her sister came back, but with a long stick in her hand. She knelt down next to her sister again, and pointed the stick's end into the hole, slowly pushing it through.

"…WAIT!"

"What!?" Piper yelled, startled as she yanked the stick out and looked at her sister.

"Do you REALLY think we should be doing this?" Pepper asked, uncertain.

"Doing what?" Piper asked.

"This…_prodding!_ I mean, we just woke up here with all these weird stones with even weirder writings or whatever, then we find this dome thing, and now we're going to poke it?" Pepper said in very obvious disbelief.

"…that was the plan." Piper said nonchalantly.

"Piper, you're a very logical person," Pepper started, rather unimpressed with her sister, "What part of any of what I just said seems logical?"

Piper seemed to consider this before pouting, lowering her stick, "Well what do YOU suggest we do?"

"Get the heck out of here! What else? For all we know, it's close to sundown, and we know how dangerous it is out here in the open at sundown." Pepper said, her eyes flicking up to the fog and tree blocked sky.

Piper sighed in exasperation. Though she knew her sister had a point. They had only been getting at most about two hours of sleep a day for a whole month. And when she and her sister conk out like they did, more often than not, hours have passed when they wake up. Sometimes even a _whole day_.

"Alright, alright, let's get out of here." She said, throwing the stick away.

Pepper sighed in relief as she and her sister got up and started towards the forest again. But just as they turned around, they couldn't help but feel their hearts skip a beat or two.

The forest was _gone_.

And in its place was a vast sea of fog that completely surrounded them, completely sealed against the edges of the hexagon they stood on. Even the canopy above them was gone and replaced with a ceiling of the milky fog.

Both simply stared around themselves in utter horror and shock. What had just happened? They had only turned their backs for a minute, and somehow the fog has surrounded them!

"Pe-…Pepper?" Piper started shakily.

"Y-yeah?"

"Where…what just happened? Where did the forest go?"

"I-I don't know! Um…" Pepper looked around them, finding nothing but fog and the occasional rock or pillar that was on the hexagon itself.

"Wait…" Piper started suspiciously, frowning, "Why are we panicking? It's just _fog!_ We just need to get through it is all!"

Pepper blinked, as if just realizing. She was actually right. This wasn't exactly a first time they encountered a thick fog. Granted, not nearly as thick as this, but still, it was just fog, not a barrier.

"So then…which way do we go?" Pepper asked.

"I think…" Piper looked around before pointing to their left, "We came in that way…"

"Okay…" Pepper said hesitantly.

She and Piper held hands so as not to get separated, and wandered into the fog cautiously.

"Do you…" Pepper started, "Do you think we're going the right way?"

"I think so…" Piper said, though sounding uncertain.

But not a moment sooner, she felt her foot hit something.

"Hey! I think I found our bags!" She said, kneeling down.

She blindly groped the ground with her free hand for what she assumed was her's or Pepper's bag. But all she felt was a raise, flat stone formation.

"Piper…" She heard her sister say in…fear?

"What…?" Piper looked up and gasped.

They were at the hexagon and dome again…

'_But…we went straight! We didn't turn around or anything!' _She thought.

"Wh-what…wh-what's going on!?" Pepper rasped, her body shaking.

"I-I…w-we must have turned somewhere. We just…need to turn around again and start over." Piper said, though she was just as shaky.

"O-okay…"

Again, they turned away from the hexagon and walked straight, this time with a faster pace. A few more moments passed, and they were starting to think they had in fact turned at some point the first time.

'_That has to be it. There's no way we could have-'_

"AH!" Piper jumped as they, once again, came face to face with the hexagon and dome. She felt her sister's hand tighten around her own.

"Wh-why!?" Pepper cried.

Piper could only stare before her more instinctual side kicked in. She gripped her sister's hand tightly and turned to the left instead of straight back.

"Run!" She yelled, tugging her sister behind her as she made a beeline for…somewhere! Just not back there!

"Piper! What are you-!?"

"Just keep running!" Piper cut in.

"But what do we-AH!?"

They were back again.

'_This can't be real…!'_ Piper thought, her teeth gritting.

Pepper was starting to hyperventilate, her eyes dilated into terrified dots and her skin pale and clammy. If they didn't get out of there right now, she was going to have a panic attack!

Now a bit mad, Piper growled and instead of running away from the hexagon, ran for it.

"PIPER!?" Pepper yelled as her sister let go of her hand.

"Leave us ALONE!" Piper screamed threateningly as she rushed for the hexagon.

She jumped up over the raised edge and rushed at the dome in a fury, swinging her hatchet out. Once she was in range, she raised it up over her head and brought it down with a loud CLANK onto the crown of the dome.

The blade went flying off of the handle from the harsh impact and landed blade end down into the dirt. The dome was completely undamaged…

The sisters could only stare in utter bewilderment at what had just happened. Piper, _PIPER_, was unable to put a single scratch on a damn hunk of rock. It had broken the tool and was left with not so much as a hairline fracture!

"Why…?" Piper rasped, falling to her knees in front of the dome, staring at it with wide, disbelieving eyes, "How…?"

Pepper snapped out of her stupor and quickly went to her sister's side, kneeling down beside her to stare at the dome in equal astonishment.

"I…I don't know," She said, "But more importantly…how do we get out of here?"

Piper had to take a moment to clear her head before she could even begin to answer her sister's question. But really, how were they going to get out of there? Walking or running was obviously out, and it wasn't like they could just fly out. And even if they did, Piper had a sinking suspicion the same thing would happen to them and they would end up back at the hexagon.

They couldn't exactly stay there either! Who knows what was out there at this time? Whatever time it might be anyways. And they couldn't find their bags! All of their supplies and extra food was in them! They couldn't exactly live off of rocks and a stick!

"_Come here…"_

"What?" Piper looked around herself, blinking.

Pepper, noticing this, gave her sister an odd look.

"What is it? Did you hear something?" She asked.

"I…I don't know," Piper said, still looking around, _'Maybe I'm final losing it…'_

"_Over here…"_

Pepper gasped when she also heard it this time. Both swiveled their heads around, trying to find the owner of said voice. It was soft, yet firm. They couldn't really tell if it was male or female, despite it being very low…

"Hello…?" Piper called, both she and her sister huddling close together, "Where are you?"

"_Here…"_

Their heads swerved to the right side of the dome, and both gasped. Very faintly, almost unnoticeable, was very faint glow within one of the holes in the dome. It was glowing a vibrant royal blue…

"What…?" Piper breathed, but then felt her sister tug on her arm and point to the left.

Piper gasped. The hole next to the first was also glowing, this one a deep purple. Slowly, cautiously, the sisters stood up and stared at the two beacons, as if mesmerized. They both silently looked at each other, their hands locked together tightly. They carefully moved forward towards the dome and in front of each of the lights, Pepper before the blue one, and Piper the purple one. The sisters, as if feeling an urge, slowly reached out to touch the lights…

"_You must help…" _

Both girls were startled yet again and drew their hands back, as if they were burnt. They once again tried to locate the voice, but to no success. Piper's frustrations kicked in again and she glared at the dome.

"Who are you!? What is going on!? What is this place!?" She snapped.

"_Who I am is not important,"_ Said the voice, which was now clearly male sounding, _"What is important is that you are the ones."_

Pepper and piper gave each other confused looks. The ones? Ones of what? What was this…person talking about?

"I…w-we don't understand…" Pepper said.

"_In time you will young one, in time,"_ The voice said kindly, _"But now is not the time for explanations. Now, we need your help."_

"Our…help?" Piper asked, "What for? Who's in trouble? And why us?"

"Yeah, we're just a couple of homeless kids now," Pepper said, "We can't do much, let alone help someone."

"_Ah, but that is where you are wrong, little one,"_ Said the voice, _"You and your sister are quite capable of helping others." _

"How did you know we were sisters?" Piper asked suspiciously.

"_That is not important,"_ He said, _"Now, I ask of you two. Will you help us?" _

"That depends," Piper snapped, glaring at the dome, "Who exactly are we helping? And what's in it for us?"

"Piper!" Pepper chided.

"_Hahahaha, they do not lie when they say you're people are rather sharp tongued," _The voice said, leaving Piper a bit confused_, "As for who you are helping, I am afraid I cannot disclose this just yet."_

"Then why should we help you? For all we know, we're hallucinating or having some messed up dream!" Piper snapped, Pepper sighing at her sister's hard headedness.

"_Questions, questions, questions…"_ The voice said wearily, as if tired of the conversation, _"Such a stubborn spit of fire you are."_

"Damn right I am." Piper sneered, partly annoyed and partly proud of herself. Pepper simply sighed and face palmed with her free hand.

"_As I was saying…"_ he said, this time his voice changing to somewhat pleading, _"We really do need you. You are the only ones who can help after all."_

"But…why us? What is it about us specifically that makes you think we can help anyone?" Pepper asked.

"_That is, unfortunately, something you will discover later on." _

"Then again, why should we help you? You haven't even told us what we're going to be doing." Piper said.

"_Because it is your duty, young one." _

"Our DUTY?" Piper snapped, "How dare you? We have NO duty to ANYONE! Let alone some weird voice that has yet to explain himself! We don't even know your name!"

"Piper…" Pepper tried.

"No! And why should we help ANYONE when no one has ever helped us!? We've been through hell and back, and no one has ever come to our rescue no matter how much we screamed and begged! And you have the gall to say it's our duty!?" Piper snapped angrily, her own rage triggered, "Give me one good reason, _a_ _real reason_, why we should help some stranger…" She hissed.

The voice didn't answer her right away. The girls were starting to think he had went away and had been scared off by Piper's fury. But not a moment later, it spoke again.

"_What have you got to lose?"_ he asked gently, _"If you accept this and help us, you will be free of this place. You will have a home, people to protect and teach you, allies, friends. A family."_

Piper continued to glare at the dome, as if mentally willing it to explode. But before she could fire off another, thoroughly colorful refusal, Pepper spoke up.

"What…exactly do we have to do?" she asked.

"Pepper! We don't know what he's-"

"_If any of what I said is not to your satisfaction, or you do not wish to continue…" _the voice said, _"I will bring you back here, where you will be free to go and do as you please."_

Both girls frowned at this, but took a moment to think over his words. They looked at each other for a long while, as if they were mentally conversing. And after a good ten minutes, both turned back to the dome with serious gazes.

"If we say we want out…" Pepper started, "You will let us go?"

"And take us back here?" Piper added.

"_Yes. I give you my word, if either of you do not wish to continue or are unsatisfied with the gifts I have mentioned, I will bring you back here." _

"And if we think your word isn't good enough?" Piper asked.

"_Hmm…"_ the voice hummed, as if thinking, _"Ah, right…"_

Pepper and Piper gasped as the lights before them suddenly turned white, and both backed away a few steps.

"What is this!? What are you doing!?" Pepper asked.

"_Do not be afraid,"_ the voice said, _"I am merely giving you each a bit of collateral."_

Both looked back at the twin lights and watched in awe as the lights shrunk into two small forms. Both were the size of a dollar coin, and when the lights dimmed, the girls could see two different markings engraved into them. The pendants were silver; one had a crescent moon engraved into it, and the other had a star engraved into it.

The light completely clearing, the amulets floated over to the girls. The one with the star landed in Piper's open hand, and the one with the moon came to rest in Pepper's hand. Turning them over, both were able to see the same circular markings had been engraved into the backs, each engraving a bit different than the other's.

"What…" Piper started, "Are these?"

"_Those amulets are a small fragment of my own powers,"_ the voice said, _"They will protect you and aid you in your journey." _

"Wow…pretty…" Piper commented, turning her amulet this way and that.

"_Now that you are holding a piece of the power you will experience, will you accept my offer and help save us?"_

Piper and Pepper looked at each other again, hesitation very visible in their brown eyes. But at the same time, realization was dawning upon them. The amulets were heavy and cool in their hands. The fog was thick and damp on their skin. The voice was clear and responsive. The beating in their chests was painful. This was all real.

"Just…answer this for us?" Piper asked.

"_Yes?"_

"This…this isn't a dream is it? Are we just going to wake up back in that damn shack and see that you, this place, these amulets, are nothing but another mocking figment of what we can never have?" she asked, sounding broken.

"Yeah, because if this is, we don't want any part of it. We've been burned and betrayed far too many times. We can't handle another disappointment…" Pepper added sadly, clutching her pendant tightly.

"…_no,"_ the voice said sympathetically, _"This is not a dream. This is as real as the air you breath."_

"But it's just not tangible…" Piper responded.

"_Heh, clever little star,"_ the voice said, _"No, it is not. Not yet anyways."_

"Which means…?" Pepper urged.

"_Which means you two are about to experience something no one could have possibly imagined," _he said,_ "And all you have to do, is place your amulets into the light…"_

The girls watched as the ones twin white lights changed back to blue and purple. They shared yet another glance with one another, their little mental link being connected again. The voice was right in one of his statements; they had absolutely nothing to lose. If anything, they had more to gain from it than anything else. But still, this was so unreal.

'_Then again, what's the harm in going along with a dream? I'll get over it eventually, it's my sister I worry about though…' _they both thought to themselves.

They averted their gazes to the lights again, their faces being bathed in their glow. Gossamer specks glided in and out of the small tunnels of light, making the lights even more beautiful and emphasizing their glow. And even though it was full of light, it was still impossible to see how far the holes went. It was like looking into a wormhole…

"Pepper…?" Piper started at length, still staring into her purple light.

"Yeah…?" Pepper said, just as distracted.

"If something happens…"

"I know Piper, I know."

"Yeah…"

"_It is time you two…" _the voice said, a tone of relief seemingly present in his tone.

Taking in a deep breath, the girls raised their free hands holding the amulets, and slid them into the glowing pits, their interlocked hands tightening around each other.

In an instant, everything changed.

Power surged blindly through their bodies, and both girls gave silent screams as the sheer surge of power and pain coursed through them. It felt like their very beings were being torn apart and then being sewn back together. It felt like they were being sucked into a vacuum!

And just when they thought they couldn't take it anymore…

Calm…

It felt as if all the weight of the world had been lifted from their shoulders.

And for once, they slept, for the first time in sixteen years, they _slept. _

To be continued…


	3. A Voice like a Riot

**Waiting for the End.**

Ch. 3

A Voice Like a Riot.

Characters: Piper (OC), Pepper (OC).

Universe: Bionicle, AU.

Genre: Angst, hurt/comfort, adventure.

This is NOT Humanized!Bionicle this time, but canon-based Bionicle.

_ALSO! I know I said the Bionicle characters in this were canon but…I couldn't resist. To see what they look like in my fic (in my eyes at least) see link in my profile or copy-paste this into the URL bar!_

_ www dot Brickshelf dot com / gallery / CAgoldrush / drawings / kongu _ matorocolor dot jpg _

_And_

_ browse dot deviantart dot com /?q = nikira + bionicle # /d23kxbo (remove the spaces) _

_I DO NOT OWN THESE IMAGES! They belongs to Nikira12 of DA. GO LOVE ON HER DAMNIT! _

_So yeah, the Bionicle peeps on this AU are more taller and streamlined in terms of the Matoran with more humanish face/masks. So yeah, longer legs, smaller torsos, but still shorter than humans. _

_Writers unite, and Revolt!_

For heights-

Matoran: 3 ½ - 4 feet to 4 1/3 feet at most.

Turaga: 4 ½ to under five feet at most.

Toa: 6 to 6+ feet at most.

_And that is all. Enjoy! _

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

Pain.

Lots and lots of pain. Well, more like aches than pain. And burning. Like the after burns when you spilled something hot on yourself. And dirt. They were face down in dirt. Well that wasn't too much of a surprise, considering where they now lived. But still, weren't they sleeping in a crappy run-down shack?

Pepper blearily opened her eyes and groaned. Her head hurt and her body felt like it had been taken apart then slapped back together with hot chili sauce coursing in her veins. She could feel a hot throbbing in her temples, and shut her eyes as light met her irises. It was too bright.

Wait, bright? Since when was it bright in her and Piper's old shack? If anything it should be as dark and dank as a cave with only a few streams of poor light from a crack or two in the moldering wood…

'_Wha…?' _she thought, _'Maybe I should get up now…' _

Groaning to herself, Pepper slowly opened her eyes, allowing them to adjust to the light above her. Once she was sure she wasn't about to go blind, she turned her face up and looked around. She stared in utter confusion.

Trees. Lots and _lots_ of trees and bushes. But these weren't like the pine and oak trees she was used to. Lush palms towered over her along with other giants with huge leaves to match. Bushes bursting with leaves and fruits ranging from quarter sized to as big as her torso spread out everywhere. The sounds of buzzing bugs, a few birds, and rustling foliage assaulted her ears as she looked around slowly, taking note of the various tropical colors in the trees and bushes.

This was _not _at all like the temperate forest Pepper and her sister had been living in. No, this looked like something out of a postcard from Hawaii!

'_Where…? How!?' _Pepper thought, now thoroughly confused, if not freaked out.

Her heart beating harshly against her chest, Pepper slowly sat up on her knees and scanned the area again. This could not be real, she thought. What had happened? She didn't recognize any of the plants or anything! And it was…warm. The air was humid and warm, but the forest she and her sister had been in was cold and dry when it wasn't raining. And it was almost always cloudy and grey; here it was sunny!

"Huh?" Pepper looked down by her knees as she heard a slight rustling of leaves.

She sighed. It was just a bug, a beetle by the looks of it. It was just scurrying around, munching on leaves and scooting up dirt to-

Her eyes widened in horror.

That…that was no normal bug…!

'_Me-…metal!?' _she thought, scooting back in horror.

The beetle was _not_ normal. Instead of a brittle carapace found on most bulky bugs, it was covered in a shiny, hard metal shell! Its horn, reminisce of a rhino beetle's, was much larger and longer with a barbed point. And its eyes…

"They're…glowing…?" Pepper rasped.

Its eyes weren't the tiny, black, almost invisible bug eyes she was used to seeing. They were round, yes, but more oval shaped and slanted. They were lit up and _glowing_ a light orange-yellow.

"Uuh…" she said dumbly.

The beetle barely gave her a glance before its hard wing case split open, and it flew away into the foliage. Blinking owlishly, Pepper slowly got up on her feet. Her balance was very unsteady, and she experienced a major episode of vertigo for no apparent reason. She barely caught herself from falling and instead sat up in a crouch, her hands planted in front of her on the ground to keep her from toppling over.

"Uhn…my head…!" She groaned.

"Ugh…" Pepper perked up and swiveled her head around.

She found her sister, Piper, lying face down in the dirt a few feet off from her, the hood of her hoodie pulled up over her head. Pepper mentally shook her head. That girl could sleep anywhere…

Frsshh…

"Hm?" Pepper looked up just past her sister and into the darker bushes.

Something…something was there. Pepper frowned and squinted her eyes, wiping some of the dirt from her rather useless glasses. Once they were (somewhat) clear, she crawled a bit closer to her sister and had a closer look.

"What the…?" she muttered.

She could make out a very vague shape huddled in the leaves. It was green, so it was hard to distinguish it from the actual leaves. Now hovering over her still sleeping sister, Pepper reached over carefully, her hands shaking, and pushed some of the leaves aside.

It looked like a-

"AAAAAHHHH!" (1)

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Pepper shrieked and jumped back, falling on her rear.

"Wha…? Peps…?" Piper _finally _woke up and sat up on her knees, rubbing her eyes before she looked over at her pale-as-death sister.

"Sis? What's up? Why are you yelling?" She asked tiredly.

Pepper, unable to speak, only raised a hand and shakily pointed it to the bush she had been looking in, her mouth gaping in a silent scream. Piper blinked with a raised brow. She looked over her shoulder and towards where her sister was pointing

Yellow eyes, green armor, alien mask, short stature of maybe under four feet tall. And shivering in utter terror while pressed up against a tree trunk. This was all Piper caught in her line of vision. And somewhere in her sleep-muddled mind, this wasn't right.

"Oh…hey Peps, what's with the robot?" she asked.

Robot…something seemed to click in her head, and when it did, all sleep vanished from her mind. Piper blinked and looked back at the robot thing, then to her sister, and back again.

Oh…

Oh.

_OH._

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

All three _shrieked _like the devil himself had suddenly appeared. And before anything else could be said or done, Piper, out of pure instinct, jumped up, grabbed her sister's hand, yanked her up, and hauled ass out of there.

"AH! Piper! What are you doing!?" Pepper cried, frantically trying to keep up with her sister's suddenly lightning-fast feet.

"What do you think!? We're getting away from that…that…I don't know!?" Piper cried.

Her head was in too much of a frenzy to think straight. It was all instinct now. And her instincts were telling her to get as far away from that robot thing as possible, and make sure her sister was safe.

But what was going on? Where were they!? What was this forest? Why was there a robot here!? She didn't understand!

'_Why…?' _her head screamed.

"Piper stop!" Pepper yelled.

Breaking out of her haze, Piper yelped just as their legs collided with a fallen tree hidden in the foliage. They both cried out as pain erupted in their shins and pitched forwards into a front flip. A sharp impact sprung forth from their backs and reverberated through their chests as they landed back first on the ground of what looked like a dirt road. Somewhere in their minds, they registered just how tired they were and that they probably hit their heads sometime during their tumble. A sharp throbbing was apparent in the backs of their heads, and it was getting harder to stay awake…

"What is this!?"

'_What…? Voices?' _Piper thought.

"I-I don't know! I-I just saw them in the grove-clearing and-"

Piper and Pepper groaned as the throbbing in their heads intensified. Just above them, they could vaguely make out shapes. Two of them were green, one larger than the other, and the others were white and grey, one also larger than the other. Piper grimaced as her vision became fuzzy and dark, her eyes drooping.

'_Peps…' _she thought before succumbing to unconsciousness…

**~x~x~x~x~x~x~**

"What do you think they are?"

"I have no clue-idea…"

'_Ugh…what the…?' _Piper groaned and winced, her head throbbing. Again. What was it with her always waking up in some kind of pain?

"Hey, I think they're waking up!"

"_Get back, we don't know what they'll do!"_

Voices…she was hearing voices. Great, just what she needed to add to her growing list of 'things that make me weird'. What next?

"Should we…do something?"

"_Like what?"_

"I don't know. They seem pretty harmless…"

"Coming from you? You'd happily race-run up to a pissed-raging Kikanalo and hug-tackle it if mister icy-stiff wasn't there to stop you!"

"_Bite me, and don't you talk to him like that!"_

'_What to do, what to do…' _Piper thought.

On one hand, she could wake up and possibly confront these voices if they were real. And on the off chance they were, she could either be A, killed. B, helped. Or C, turned into some kind of alien experiment of some sorts. She was pretty sure it was more of those robot things talking. She could hear soft breathing beside her; that was good, it meant Pepper was still with her and, thankfully, asleep. It wouldn't do to have her have a panic attack when they were outnumbered.

"Kongu! Don't get so near-close to it!"

"Hey, you awake? Hellooooo~?"

Piper felt something poke her side and groaned. Maybe she should wake up…

Piper blearily opened her eyes with a groan, her vision out of focus and blurry. It slowly started to clear up thankfully. She blinked and looked up.

And got a face full of green with two curious glowing yellow-green eyes just centimeters from her own face.

"…"

"…"

"…hi-hello!"

It's lid-flipping time.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"EEEEEKKKK!"

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"WHAT THE-!?"

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"HOLY CRAP!"

All in the span of ten seconds, numerous things happened. Firstly, Piper had screamed bloody murder. Second, the green robot, not expecting the scream, screamed himself in fright and ran to hide behind a slightly taller green robot. Somewhere between the first and second event, everyone else started yelling in fright, and thus had woken Pepper up. Her waking up scared all of them into screaming _again_, and Piper instantly jumped into her defensive mode and backed them both up against a wall after an exclamation of the holy feces. (2)

Both parties stared at each other, panting from shock and fright, and both pinned up against opposite walls. Both Pepper and Piper couldn't help but take note of the robots' appearances as they stared at them in a mix of observation and fear…

There were four of them as far as they could tell; two of them were smaller, and the other two were slightly taller and sporting staffs. Both sets were different colors and had different patterns and 'faces'. (3)

Off to the right were the two white ones. One was maybe around four and a half, to maybe under five feet tall, and had a square, owlish face with dark blue eyes, and a staff with a pickaxe-like end. He was all mostly grey and white, wearing a grey shrug or cape over his shoulders with intricate embroidery stitched into it. He was rather thin, but had obvious anatomy structure. He honestly reminded the girls of the newer transformers characters. Currently he had an arm in front of the smaller robot protectively and half hidden behind his person. And with him being so hidden, the girls couldn't really make out how he looked.

The green ones were definitely different. The taller one had a rounder head and yellow eyes. He was covered in various shades of green and had a similar cape like the white one, but it had different patterns and was a dark forest green. He was also around maybe four and a half feet tall.

Next to him and cowering in the corner was the short lime-green one. He was maybe under four feet tall, maybe three and a half feet tall. He had yellow-green eyes and a more streamlined face. His hands and feet were oversized, the girls noted. He was currently staring at the girls in terror, as if he was expecting them to get up and bite him.

All of them had odd glowing crystal-like stones in the center of their chests. They weren't too bulky or broad, but they couldn't be called slender or narrow either.

The staring had progressed over the course of three minutes, and not one to enjoy awkward silence and staring, pepper decided to try and say something.

"Um, hi?"

"EEEEEEEEKKKKK!"

The short green robot jumped and ran over to the taller green robot and clung to his side, pointing at Pepper.

"It said something!" he cried.

Piper growled, "Hey, don't you call my sister an 'it' you freaky robot!"

"AAAAAAHHHH!" The green one screamed again, causing Piper to wince and Pepper to hide behind her.

"Shut up already!" Piper snapped.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"_Spirits above, shut up!"_ The taller white one snapped.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Sissy, make it stop…!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"I said SHUT UP you midget!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

"Kongu calm down!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"_STOP YELLING_!"

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"SON OF A BITCH!"

"EEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKK!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Oh Mata-Nui above and beyond, **SHUT YOUR MOUTHS AND LISTEN!**"

Complete. Utter. _Silence._

All heads spun around to the new voice, which had resonated from behind the tall white robot, and towards the smallest of the group in the room.

This one was all white and light sandy blue with a round face and what appeared to be some kind of scope over his right eye. The exposed eye was a deep, bright sky blue that matched the stone in his chest. He was narrower and shorter than the three others, and thinner than the short green one. He held a very strong air of finality and authority, as if he was radiating a clear message to the others that he was not going to take anyone's crap. He frowned deeply at everyone present as he stepped out from behind what the girls guessed to be his leader.

"Are we DONE screaming now?" he asked, "Spirits above, you're going to shatter my scope with all these decibels!"

Pepper shuddered and huddled behind her sister, "He's scary sis…"

"Tch, I can take him." Piper muttered.

"_Back off!"_ Nuju snapped at the girls, his armor nearly bristling off of his body like cat's fur as he bore his teeth at them.

Pepper promptly fainted.

"AH! Sis!" Piper cried, turning around to shake her sister awake, "Pepper! Come on, wake up! Don't you leave me here with these freaky robots!"

"Who're you speak-calling a robot!?" snapped the tall green one.

"Why the hell are you speaking like that!?"

"Uhh…" Pepper suddenly roused from her spell and blearily looked around, "Sis…I thought I heard R2D2…"

"Well, you're close…" Piper said, eyeing the tall white one.

He gave her a very intimidating glare, and Pepper was instantly reminded of her sister's own 'Death Glare'. Piper actually matched his glare with her own, and both locked gazes in a battle of the Death Glare. Pepper swore she saw sparks going off between them.

The small white one palmed his forehead, "Ugh, I swear to Mata-Nui, I'm gonna tie you all up if you all don't CALM DOWN right now and explain yourselves!"

"We!? Explain _ourselves!?_" Piper snapped, standing up to hopefully intimidate the room with her taller stature, "It's _you_ who needs to do the explaining! Where are we!? What the HELL are you!? And why does THAT-"

Piper paused and pointed to the short green character in the corner digging through her and Pepper's bags.

"Have my BRA on!?" (4)

"What's a bra?" it asked, adjusting the strap over his shoulder.

"GIVE ME THAT!" Piper snapped, snatching her bag and clothing article off of the green being.

Pepper squeaked and grabbed her sister's arm, "Sis, calm down…" she said.

"Look…" The small white one said, much more calmly this time, "We just want to know who and what you are, and possibly why you are here. I can certainly say you're not Rahi at the very least."

"They're not?" The tall green one asked, surprised.

"No, they're not. Trust me."

While they were debating with each other, the short green one decided it was safe to approach the girls and walked up behind them. Blinking curiously, he reached out and poked the back of Pepper's neck.

"AAAAHHHHHH!"

"Wha the-!? BACK OFF!" Piper, after seeing the flash of green behind her sister, turned around, pulling Pepper with her, and swung her leg out in a round-house kick, nailing Kongu right in the jaw.

"GAH!" He fell to the ground in a daze with Piper fully fired up.

"Will you please just-"

"BACK OFF! Get away from us!" Piper snapped, pushing herself and her sister back against the wall.

The short white one approached the girls with his hands up, "Look, will you please just-?"

"NO!" Piper blindly kicked out, connecting her heavy booted foot to the smaller being's stomach and kicking him across the room.

"Gah!" he choked as his back collided with the back wall.

"_Matoro!"_ The taller white one kneelt down to him, checking him over for any serious damage, but all that was present was the boot print contrasting obviously on his white body.

He snarled and turned to the girls, his eyes glowing a brighter hue of blue along with his mask.

"What are you-HEY!"

This had to be a dream, the girls thought. This _had _to be a _sick dream!_ There is _no way_ they were actually _floating_ in the air and nearly touching their heads to the ceiling right now. This could not be happening! (5)

"Put us DOWN!" Piper snapped, clutching at her sister tightly.

"What did I do!?" The taller green one along with everyone else, sans the two white ones, were up in the air.

"_Shut it Matau! And you! Explain yourself RIGHT NOW!"_ The taller white one pointed at Piper threateningly.

"Turaga, that's enough. Please put them down, you're scaring them." Matoro said calmly.

"_No, not if they are going to pose a threat to you and the others!"_

"She _kicked _me, she didn't put a hole in my chest! It was my fault anyways," Matoro said irritably, "Now put them down, please."

"_No."_

"Nuju…" Matoro said sternly, narrowing his eyes at Nuju with crossed arms. He was the very picture of (not really) attitude.

The two had a bit of a stare off, and in that time, the occupants floating in the air via Nuju's mask powers were either watching with bated breath, or still too frightened to notice. And not even a minute later, eyes still locked, Nuju finally relented and broke eye contact.

"_Fine…"_ He groused, cutting his power off.

"AH!" The girls fell to the floor none too gently.

Matoro fixed Nuju with a stern look, the Turaga looking back at him nonchalantly.

"_You didn't say gently."_

"It was implied."

"Ugh…no more…!" Pepper squeaked, pale as a sheet and shaking madly, she shuffled back and under the bed she and her sister had previously been sleeping on. Her sister eventually joined her, both shaking and clearly frightened.

"You sure they aren't Rahi?" Matau asked, recovering form his own ungraceful fall.

"Oh for the love of…" Matoro sighed and pushed past Nuju. He kneeled down in front of the bed and peeked under it at the girls, "Hey, come on out you two, we just want to know what is going on so we can maybe help you." He said gently.

"What's going on…? What is GOING ON!? Are you kidding us!? We woke up in this weird place to a bunch of robots, were floating in the air for no apparent reason, we're hiding under a bed, and now we're _freaking out! _And all because of some stupid voice and these stupid amulets!" Piper shrieked.

"_Amulets? Voice?"_ Nuju echoed curiously.

"A-a voice in the mist t-told us that we would be a-able to find a better place to l-live if we helped someone…I don't know! It went too fast!" Pepper cried, hiding her face in Piper's shoulder.

"Mist? How odd…" Matoro muttered to himself.

"Pft, more like crazy-insane!" Matau voiced.

"_You're not helping, Kohlii-head."_ Nuju growled.

"Whatever! Either way, we can't heart-trust these…things! For all we know, they could be spies or a new evil-threat of Makuta!"

"What does a Makuhita have to do with this!?" Piper rasped. She didn't think they even knew about Pokémon… (6)

"Erm, no, I'll explain that later," Matoro said, "But in the meantime, can you please tell us at least what you are?" he asked.

The two sisters looked to each other uncertainly, as if mentally conversing. Matoro waited patiently, just watching them without any sense of urgency in his eyes. He simply sat patiently waiting, and he seemed to be the only one in the room who wasn't looking at them with either terror, or resentment.

"…we'll talk if the rest of you leave." Piper said, Pepper nodding in agreement.

"_Now wait just a minute you little-"_

Matoro looked up at Nuju pleadingly, "Please Nuju? If it's going to help, I think I can survive a few minutes with them. The worst they can do is kick me again." He said with a light smile, Piper's cheeks puffing up slightly in a pout.

"_I don't think it's a good-" _

"Please?"

"…"

"…"

"…_tch."_ Nuju huffed and grabbed the other two by their arms and hauled them out the door, _"You have ten minutes."_ He said and shut the door.

Once they were gone, it was silent for a long while. It was deafening, almost uncomfortable. But once he was sure Nuju wasn't going to come barreling in and change his mind, the small white being turned back to the girls with a friendly smile.

"Now then, shall we talk?"

To be continued…

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

_1-) The irony of this chapter title should become pretty apparent soon._

_2-) Revel in the holy feces! XDD_

_3-) Since the girls don't know about the Bionicle race, they don't know that their faces are masks. They will be getting a few basic lessons on their race in the next chapter._

_4-) Kongu was snooping through their things, and seeing as they have no use for those kind of things, he has no idea what a bra is used for. Ergo this. It gets worse later. XD_

_5-) Nuju has the mask of telekinesis, so it's pretty obvious as to how and why this happened._

_6-) Makuhita is a Pokémon. Makuta is the main antagonist in Bionicle. You seeing the name confusion here? XD_


	4. Listen to the Tone and Violent Rhythm 1

**Waiting for the End.**

Ch. 4

Listen to the Tone and the Violent Rhythm - Part. 1

Characters: Piper (OC), Pepper (OC).

Universe: Bionicle, AU.

Genre: Angst, hurt/comfort, adventure.

This is NOT Humanized!Bionicle this time, but canon-based Bionicle.

_Writers unite, and Revolt!_

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

Pepper and Piper were not the least bit sure if their sense of mentality was still intact.

Because this could _not _be a sign of having a grasp on one's sanity. Seeing robots, waking up in a rainforest-like area, _floating_…no. They have officially lost it. There was no other explanation. They were probably hallucinating. And yet…

Everything was so…solid. Piper could still feel the small resistance traveling up and down her leg from when she kicked the small white being across the room. Pepper herself was also still tingling from where the green one had touched her, and neither of them were about to deny the solidity of the wooden floor below them. (1)

It was now a matter of whether they should deny any of this, or whether it was real or not.

But it just didn't _make sense!_

"That guy…" They heard the white robot sigh, "Don't worry about him, he may act all tough, but he's really a softie." He said.

The girls flinched as he turned and stooped down closer to their little hiding spot, smiling gently at them. It was a bit strange to look at; not just because of the differences in facial features, but also because…well, no one has ever really smiled at them before, except each other.

"Now, can you come out of there now? It doesn't really look all that comfortable." He said with a bit of light humor. Obviously a tactic to get the girls to relax. (2)

The sisters looked at each other wearily, as if unsure. The small being couldn't blame them; if he suddenly woke up in some strange world surrounded by even stranger people, he'd be pretty hesitant too. He would also probably throw a few kicks too.

"I promise, I won't hurt you. Heh, you're actually more likely to hurt me than anything else." He chuckled, rubbing his stomach where the boot print still lingered.

Piper slightly winced at the mark. She hadn't meant to hit him _that _hard, but when she gets fired up and panicked, her self-restraint flies out the window and her strength just spirals out of control. Or in this case, it lashed out and left a very nice boot print on a smaller person's stomach.

Biting her lip, Pepper slowly crawled out. Piper hesitated briefly, suspicious, before she too wriggled her way out from under the rather tiny bed and stood up.

And now that he was closer, and they were drawn to their full height, both Piper and Pepper could clearly see how much smaller he was compared to them; he actually seemed smaller than the green being digging through their bags. He just _barely _came up to the bottom of their chests. Now Piper felt guilty. (3) She loathed harming things smaller than her… (4)

"There, much better." He said with a light smile.

He turned his head to the left and walked over to a small table against the wall, containing a round wooden bowl and some books and trinkets. He picked up the bowl and brought it over. The girls could now see the bowl held some kind of fruits.

"You both don't look too good," he said in concern, "Go ahead and eat before we start talking."

The girls eyed the fruits warily. They were a deep green color, and maybe tangerine sized.(5) They looked kind of like tomatoes in terms of shape, but their stems were very similar to apple stems, complete with leaves. They honestly didn't look that appetizing, but since they hadn't eaten in a good few days…

"…how do we know they're not poisoned?" Piper asked firmly, her paranoia obvious. Pepper clutched close to her, slightly hidden behind her back and obviously just as nervous.

The white mechanical being sighed and picked one out randomly. Bringing it up, he took a bite of it, chewed it, then swallowed. Both Pepper and Piper were both left a bit stunned by this; they didn't think robots could eat, let alone not short-circuit from the juices dripping from the bite mark. (6) They also seemed to take note that he didn't necessarily have teeth, but a ridged off-white beak; much like his teeth had fused together. Pepper was reminded of a parrot fish's beak she saw on TV once. How odd. But strangely fitting. (7)

"There, see? They're called Bula Berries. They grow all around the island, but the best ones are here in Le-Koro," he explained, "And before you ask, no, species doesn't make a difference. My stomach is just as organic as yours." He said, again holding the bowl out to them.

Well it wasn't like they needed any more convincing. Cautiously, the girls each picked up a berry and tentatively nibbled on its firm flesh. A sweet flavor burst over their tongues; the skin of the fruit was mildly tart, but the flesh inside was sweet and mellow.

"Wow…tastes kind of like a mix between a Mango and an Orange…" Piper noted quietly.

Pepper nodded, "Yeah, it's good though. Um, thanks mister…um, I don't think we got your name?"

"Oh! I'm so sorry, how rude of me," he said, slightly flustered, "My name is Matoro. And may I ask of your names?"

"I'm Piper," said Piper, "And this is my sister, Pepper." She gestured to her meek companion.

Matoro nodded, "Oh, you two are sisters then," A nod confirmed this, "I see. So…forgive my wording, but what exactly _are_ you? Judging by your sister's coloring, I'd assumed her to be a sub-species of Ga-Matoran, and you of Onu-Matoran." he asked as politely as possible, but still curiously.

"Our coloring…?" Both girls muttered, looking at each other.

And almost immediately, they noticed something off. They had been too caught up in panic, not to mention they were covered in mud, to notice it at first, but now that they were calm…

"Oh my GOD! Pepper! Your hair is _blue!_" Piper yelled in shock.

"Me!? Why is _your_ hair _purple!?_" Pepper countered. (8)

"What!?" Both yelled at once.

Piper stuffed her hands into his hoodie pocket, completely ignoring a very confused looking Matoro. She took out her pocket knife and drew out the blade, holding the flat side up to her face. And reflected in the dull blade, was her. But it wasn't _her_ like she remembered.

Her hair, her eyes…they were _purple! _And Pepper…

"Let me see!" Pepper grabbed the knife and brought it over in front of her own face. She squeaked in utter shock.

Both she and Piper had somehow changed. Her once blond hair was now a navy blue. And her eyes, once chocolate brown, were an oceanic blue. Her sister's formerly black hair was a dark, rich purple – almost a plum color – and her eyes were a bright iridescent purple.

What was going on here, they thought.

Matoro decided then to put in his two cents.

"Um, I'm guessing by your reactions that those aren't your natural colors, or…?" he broke off, unsure as to how to perceive this.

"Hell no! Purple and blue hair is NOT natural in our world! I mean, yeah, blue eyes are common, but not in that shade! And like hell purple is a natural occurrence in eyes! If any of this was natural, we'd all practically be living an anime!" Piper exclaimed, caught somewhere between excitement and horror.

"Ani-what-now?" Matoro inquired, now a bit lost. (9)

"Ah, n-never mind, it's a uh…nothing." Pepper said, now thoroughly shaken up. But not exactly upset or distraught. If anything, she kind of actually liked the new coloring. And judging by her sister's fidgeting and resisting to smiling, she was too.

"Uh, okay then, so…" Matoro cleared his throat, "Obviously this is a lot more complex than it seems."

"Tch, obviously…" Piper muttered, looking exhausted. Matoro couldn't blame her.

"Erm, a-anyways. We are called humans," Pepper exclaimed, "We come from a planet called earth."

"You come from the ground?" Matoro asked, eyes full of astonishment.

"Erm, no. I'm guessing earth has a different meaning here? It's just the name of our planet, but there is…'earth' there, lots of dirt. And water. Lots of water…" Piper explained.

"Oh, I see."

"Yeah…"

"Um, if you don't mind me asking, what are _you?_" Pepper asked, both in honest curiosity and as a way to break any tension that was starting to form between the three.

"Oh yes, that. I am what you would call a 'Matoran'." Matoro said, gesturing to himself.

"So…you, that pervert green-bean, the grouch, and the weird double-word speaker are Matoran?" Piper asked.

Matoro laughed lightly at the implications. The girls couldn't help the miniscule smiles breaking over their lips from his rather contagious demeanor.

"No, no. But Kongu, the smaller green one, is a Matoran like me," he explained, "The two taller ones with the staffs are referred to as 'Turaga'. They are our leaders and elders."

"Ooh…" the girls said in understanding. Things seemed to finally settle between them, and they lapsed into a very brief pause.

"So then…where are we at? What planet is this? Are we even still on earth…?" Piper asked.

"I highly doubt it. You are on the island of Mata-nui. As for the planet, we call it Aqua-magna. And we are currently in the village of Le-Koro." Matoro explained. (10)

The girls nodded at this and looked around. The wooden rom they were in was a bit small, but much bigger than their old shack. The ceiling was rather low, they could probably even reach up and brush the tips of their fingers against it. But this wasn't too surprising, considering how short everyone they've seen has been so far. The entire room was made of a rich mid-tone wood, but some parts seemed to be made of the tree they were no doubt in itself. Huge twisted vines and branches looped and wedged into crevices, creating a very odd combination of wood-cabin and fantasy-jungle home.

Pepper cocked her head as he eyes continued to wander, "This is a very nice place you have here. Are all the people and places nice like this?"

The girls noted with a touch of bewilderment as a tinge of red came to Matoro's cheeks. A robot was blushing. Now they've seen everything. (11)

"Heh, well it's hard to say – I don't live here, and I can't say much for everyone else's personalities," he said, "We're all very individual. Some are nice, others not so much. Though a lot of people would consider me 'weird' because, well, supposedly I'm supposed to be cold and grouchy like most Ko-Matoran."

"Ko…Matoran…" Piper repeated, "So there are like…other classes of Matoran?"

"Exactly!" Matoro exclaimed, "Each class, or tribe, lives in a single village. Right now, since we're in Le-Koro, the Le-Matoran live here. I live in Ko-Koro, and of course the other four tribes have a Koro."

"Others?" Pepper asked.

"Yes. There are six tribes in all," Matoro explained, "All have a large number of Matoran, one Turaga, and one Toa."

"Forgive the obviously dumb question, but what's a Toa?" Piper asked as she and Pepper nibbled on another fruit.

Matoro then went into a brief yet clear explanation of the Toa. From what he was saying, Toa were their guardians and heroes. They kept the villages safe from harm and the dark evil that crept in their land. They controlled the elements of their individual representations, and were described as the elemental spirits of Mata-Nui.

"Like a ghost or something?" Piper asked, suddenly fascinated.

"Oh no, not in that sense at least!" Matoro laughed, waving a hand, "Our Toa are very much tangible. They wield our respective elements and use this and their masks to protect us."

"But…you have a mask, right?" Pepper asked, receiving a nod in confirmation, "So don't you have powers?"

"No, Matoran cannot retain powers like a Toa can. I can use my scope to see far away though, but only our Turaga and Toa can use Kanohi masks. Which are the masks that give Toa and Turaga their power."

"So I'm guessing Mr. Grouch can make people float?"

Matoro snorted, "You could say that. His mask is the Matatu, or mask of telekinesis. Though it is true he's a terrible person who enjoys freaking people out by making random objects, or themselves, float. But it just means he cares." Matoro said fondly. (12)

Pepper smiled forlornly, "It must be nice to have someone to watch over you and protect you like that…" she said, leaning against her sister.

Piper nodded solemnly and wrapped an arm around Pepper's shoulders, glaring at the floor.

Their resolve was broken by an oddly empathetic voice.

"I see. You two have seen terrible things in your lives, and no one was able to save you but yourselves, correct?" Matoro said. His voice was lower than it was and oddly understanding, as if he knew just what was going on in the girls' heads.

"That about sums it up…but the voice said that if we help you here or something, we could have a better life…" Pepper said, uncertain.

"Yeah, he said something about us being able to help you guys. He said we were 'the ones' or something, and kept making these weird comments like he knew who we were." Piper added, frowning.

"Hmm…" Matoro hummed, "You said something about amulets before. May I see them?" he asked. (13)

The girls nodded and dug into their pockets, pulling out the silver disks and placing them in Matoro's hands. They waited as he studied them, his scope adjusting and whirring like a built in microscope. He turned them over after a moment and blinked his bright eye.

"Did you two read what was on their backs?" he asked. The girls blinked in bewilderment.

"Read? Those are _letters?_" Piper asked, astonished.

"Oh," Matoro said, smiling apologetically, "I'm guessing humans have a different alphabet?"

"Understatement of the century. And those sure don't look ANYTHING like our letters." Piper said.

"Well then, allow me to translate," Matoro said, holding up one of the amulets.

"On Pepper's, the back has the words 'protection and power'," he said, switching it out for the other, "And Piper, yours says 'energy and willpower'. I couldn't tell you how a moon and star are associated with these words, but I think Nuju could probably help if it has to do with the stars in the sky." (14)

"That grump that makes weird whistling noises?" Piper asked.

"Speaking of, how is it we can understand him?" Pepper asked. Matoro fixed her with a strange look.

"You…understand him?" he asked slowly. (15)

"Well, yeah. I mean, at first I only heard the whistling, but after a while, it was like subtitles were playing in my head," Piper remarked, looking at her sister, "What about you?"

"Yeah, like you said, it was like reading subtitles…or hearing them…if that makes sense?" Pepper offered a bit meekly.

Again, Matoro just gives them odd looks. It wasn't accusing or unbelieving, more it was a bit astonished and uncertain. After a moment he blinked and shrugged, as if he had been mentally debating with himself.

"Well, I can't tell you how that's possible. It took me at most a little under a year to fully grasp the language," he said before he gave their amulets back, and clasped his hands together at his front, "But for now, I think you two should rest up and think things through. I will talk with the others so we can figure things out."

The girls felt an immediate wave of gratitude wash over them at the suggestion of rest. Despite being knocked out before, they felt _exhausted_.

"Thanks so much Matoro, this means a lot to us." Pepper said shyly, skittering over and quickly hugging him before rushing back to huddle against her sister.

"Yeah, thanks shorty!" Piper offered with her trademark grin, hugging him as well, though a bit tighter than Pepper. (16)

Another blush spread across his cheeks, "O-oh, sure! N-no problem!" he said shyly as Piper set him down, "Ahem, anyways, help yourselves to the fruit and bed, and I'll come check on you two later." He said, giving a polite nod before wandering over to the door.

"Oh, and if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask. We're just down the hall, second door on the right." He added over his shoulder.

"Sure, thanks a lot Matoro…" Piper said, eyes lingering on the dent on his back shoulder armor from when he hit the wall. She made a mental note to properly apologize to him later.

With a parting nod to them, Matoro exited the room, shutting the door behind himself. Once they were sure he was gone, the girls released a breath they didn't even know they were holding.

Piper tipped back and flopped onto the bed, which was surprisingly big enough for her and her sister.

"At least one of them is nice. Cute too, like an android from an anime…" she said, looking over at Pepper, "You okay sis?" (17)

"Yeah, just exhausted. Who knows…" she said, "This may be the place the voice told us about. It's been so long since someone has spoken to us so nicely."

Piper nodded, but suddenly frowned after a moment as she remembered something.

"_I see. You two have seen terrible things in your lives, and no one was able to save you but yourselves…"_ he had said. (18)

And the way he said it…it was like he was reminiscing. Like he knew exactly what he was talking about. And his eyes…the look in his eyes, the way he was looking into theirs…

And then just when he left…

"Did you notice how he seemed…understanding of us? When we didn't even say anything?" she asked. Pepper nodded and sat on the edge of the bed beside Piper.

"Yeah…it was odd. But there was definitely something there. Like looking in a mirror…" she said, frowning a bit.

"Yeah…" Piper said slowly. Her frown suddenly deepened, "Hey Peps?"

"Yes?"

"Just when he left…did you notice something…odd on his back?"

"Odd like that dent…?"

"No, below it. Just under the armor…" Piper said, frowning at the ceiling, "It looked like a scar…" she said, her fingers unconsciously touching a scar hidden beneath her sleeve on her upper arm.

Pepper nodded after a moment as they both said at the same time,

"Like a burn…"

To be continued…

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

_1-) Denial isn't just a port-o-potty in Utah~ XDD_

_2-) humor is a great ice breaker, and it also helps one relax. Laughing is a very good way to juice up the body and refresh yourself. Laughing is very good for you since it increases the amount of serotonin in the brain._

_3-) let the record show that Matoro is one of the smallest Matoran in this fic, if not THE smallest._

_4-) fact; Piper LOATHES when people pick on others smaller than them. She sees it as dishonorable and unfair, not to mention arrogant. She lives by the 'don't pick a fight with someone unless there is a fair balance' philosophy. Though if someone is picking on Pepper, she won't care how big or small you are. You die._

_5-) I'm not too sure on size, but Bionicle wikis have said that Bula Berries are, in fact, greenish in color. _

_6-) At this point, both Pepper and Piper have not yet grasped that these 'robots' are not robots, but are in fact quite sentient and bear organic parts._

_7-) During the last Bionicle movie, I got a good look at the Toa's 'teeth'. And low and behold, they don't necessarily have 'teeth', but a jagged row of serrated ridges much like a beak. It was quite interesting to study. 83_

_8-) This will be explained in later chapters. Just roll with it people~_

_9-) Matoro will later get a glimpse into the world that is Piper's anime-soaked head XD_

_10-) Aqua Magna is the planet that Mata-nui crash landed on, where the island itself was created._

_11-) In this, earthquakes and I have decided that the Bionicle characters will have regular blood, but it will be more metallic looking, like red mercury. I think there was a reference to their canon blood in the books, but I don't have them anymore, and I couldn't find anything on the inter-web. SO yeah, just roll with it!_

_12-) So yeah, if you find yourself or an object suddenly floating and/or following you around, it means Nuju cares. Yeah._

_13-) These amulets will be playing a key role later on in the fic._

_14-) These will be key words as well!_

_15-) This will also be explained in later chapters. Not anytime soon though!_

_16-) Notice, that Piper will be coming up with various pet names for the canon characters for her own amusement. Hint: one of them is match-stick, one is spike, and one is slick. You get cookies if you guess who these are._

_17-) Piper is going to be making a lot of references to animes in this XD_

_18-) What's this? hidden plot? IMPOSSIBLE!_


	5. Listen to the Tone and Violent Rhythm 2

**Waiting for the End.**

Ch. 5

Listen to the Tone and the Violent Rhythm - Part. 2

Characters: Piper (OC), Pepper (OC).

Universe: Bionicle, AU.

Genre: Angst, hurt/comfort, adventure.

This is NOT Humanized!Bionicle this time, but canon-based Bionicle.

_Writers unite, and Revolt!_

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

"_Humans?" _

Matoro nodded at his Turaga's inquiry, "Yes. Their names are Piper, the purple one, and Pepper, the blue one. Both obviously female, and sisters through blood." He explained.

Nuju nodded at this, _"And you say we can trust them?"_

"Definitely." Matoro said with a certain smile.

Matau, however, looked uncertain, "Now wait a small-minute. How can you be so certain-sure? For all we heart-know, they could sneak-creep up on us in the middle-dead of night and eat-devour our faces!"

"Why would they stop at the face?" Matoro asked sarcastically, which prompted Kongu into hiding behind Matau. (1)

"_You're not helping, Matoro"_ Nuju said, though he was smirking from his Matoran's retort, _"And anyways, if Matoro trusts them, I think we can do the same."_ He said, Matoro translating his words.

"How can you be so certain-sure?" Matau asked in astonishment.

"Because I'm a people person!" Matoro said without missing a beat, his smile cheekier now.

Matau palmed the forehead of his mask and groaned. It always seemed like when he was actually _trying _to be the voice of reason, he was made out to look like both an idiot and a paranoid old coot. (2) It wasn't fair! And they were now taking the word of a young Matoran? Granted, a very smart one, but _still! _

"Okay, fine…" Matau said, "Say we do heart-trust them and invite-bring them into our homes, then what?"

"_We find out how they got here and why," _Nuju said, _"Did they mention anything to you?" _he asked his assistant.

"I didn't get too much, but I did look at those amulets they mentioned." Matoro said.

"_And?"_

"They were just simple silver disks with designs and words carved into them in our language," Matoro said, "Pepper's had a crescent moon and the words 'protection' and 'power'. Piper's had a star and the words 'willpower' and 'energy'."

"Gee, that's handy-helpful…" Matau said sarcastically. Nuju shot him a hard look before motioning for Matoro to continue.

"I also learned that what they are – humans – aren't really that much different than us," he said, "They're fully organic, but they seem to eat like us – they didn't show any signs of allergies to Bula Berries after all."

"_You fed them!?" _Nuju said in alarm, _"Matoro, that could have been dangerous! For all we know they could get seriously ill!"_ (3)

"Calm down, they showed no signs of not being able to handle them," Matoro reassured, "And come on, they looked half starved! I could see their internal-armor in a few places through their flesh!" (4)

Nuju sighed, exasperated. Leave it to Matoro to throw caution to the wind and take a risk. Though he shouldn't be so surprised anymore. The Matoran was notorious for his lack of caution when someone, or something, showed signs of distress. It was amazing he could still hunt! Nuju was honestly just waiting for the day someone knocks on his door and tells him Matoro was missing a limb because he released a kill from one of his own traps.

This would also be the day where Nuju was certain he would get to experience what a stroke felt like.

"And anyways, I'm pretty sure they are completely harmless." Matoro added.

All eyes locked onto the still very obvious boot print contrasting against his grey-white belly. The Matoran eyed the mark and scoffed, crossing his arms over his middle with a frown.

"Okay, yes, they can kick and punch, but _only _when provoked, and it only seems to be when Piper thinks she and her sister are in danger…" Matoro suddenly eyed Nuju smugly, "Sounds like someone else I know."

"_Bite me, brat." _Nuju scoffed. Matoro merely smiled fondly at him, causing the elder to sigh and pinch the bridge of his 'nose'.

"_But anyways…" _he started wearily, _"I believe Matoro when he says we can trust them. And even if they couldn't be, it's not like we're in danger. They obviously have no powers like us, nor any real weapons."_

"Actually, Piper has a very dull knife on her…" Matoro interjected.

"_What!?"_

"I didn't know! And she didn't use it on me or anything…"

"_And you made me leave you in there with them!? ALONE!?"_

"Ugh, me and my big mouth…"

"_Damn right your big mouth!"_

At any other time, Matau would have found the rather one-sided argument hilarious. But now he was just a bit frustrated. Although it was a bit entertaining to see Nuju get all riled up while Matoro was just so nonchalant and dismissive, now was not the time to be getting a kick out of Nuju's distress.

"Shouldn't we call-summon the others now?" he inquired suddenly.

The two swiftly paused in their 'argument' (it was more Nuju yelling at Matoro while said Matoran was just tuning him out with a blank expression) and turned their attention to Matau. Honestly it was such a logical, intelligent inquiry, the two had to take a moment to make sure they heard right.

Nuju straightened himself and cleared his throat, turning away from Matoro with a huff.

"_Yes, we should," _He said, _"Send some messenger Gukko to gather them here." _

"Sure…" Matau huffed, a bit miffed from being ordered around by Nuju.

But he none the less got up to go give the messengers their assignment. Kongu trailed behind him, insisting he go with the team to deliver the messages; this was also partly an excuse to be as far away from the 'scary-bad' humans as possible.

Once they were gone, Nuju sighed heavily and slouched in his chair, rubbing a temple.

"_Anything else I should know while we're alone?" _he asked. Matoro shook his head.

"No, that's pretty much it…" he said at length. Nuju fixed him with a narrow frown and crossed his arms.

"_You're a horrible liar." _He commented. Matoro chuckled softly and shrugged, pulling out a vacant chair and sitting beside his Turaga with a sigh.

"Yeah, and only you seem to know when I'm lying." He said, propping his elbows up on the table and resting his chin on his hands.

Nuju shook his head and scooted closer to Matoro, leaning over the table as well so he could see the Matoran's face.

"_Something they say open old wounds?" _he asked carefully. Again, Matoro shrugged.

"No, not really…" he said, "Although…by now I think you may have noticed."

Nuju nodded grimly, but didn't say anymore. Of course he had noticed, he noticed the moment he saw the girls. It wasn't hard to see it, but it wasn't always easy; it took a trained eye to become aware of such things. One could only see it if they had seen it before.

"_So their scars are on more than just their bodies?" _Nuju asked. (5)

"Yes. But I didn't want to pry, it's not my place," Matoro said, "Although, I hope to hear their story one day, when they trust us."

Nuju nodded slowly, taking the information in steadily as he watched his Matoran. He just stared off for a few moments. Matoro's one visible, gem-stone eye was hazy, distant, as if his mind had wandered off and had taken Matoro's sight to an unknown point in time. But Nuju knew better, he'd seen that look before. It wasn't common, but it wasn't rare either. But each time he did get that look, it always pained the icy Turaga…

Matoro suddenly blinked and stood up, heading for the door.

"_Where are you going?" _Nuju asked, not exactly in the mood for chastising Matoro for just up and doing his own thing while on the job.

"Just going to the weavers for a while," he said, picking up the white and blue messenger bag by the door, "I'll be back in an hour or so." (6)

"_Yes, because I'm going to allow you to shirk off your duties in the middle of your job."_

"Yep! Be back soon!" Matoro said cheerfully before vanishing through the door.

Nuju rolled his eyes and sighed. Really, the things he lets that brat get away with…

**~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~**

"_**Wake up…"**_

Piper was starting to wonder if the universe had some kind of secret vendetta against her and her sister getting a descent rest. Because this would be about the third time someone was trying to wake her up from a fitful sleep. Probably wouldn't be the last either.

"_**Piper, Pepper, you need to wake up."**_

If she had the energy, she would have told this person to piss off.

"_**Wake up sunshine~"**_

Oh that _tears it…!_

"Don't call me-!" Bolting upright, Piper raised an index finger in a dramatic point to whoever the person was. But before she could finish her proclamation, she froze.

She was in space.

She…was…in…space.

_Why _is she in _space?_

_Why _is she _floating _in _space _and _not freaking out?_

_Why is she still __**pointing!?**_

'_What am I even pointing at!?' _Piper thought, slowly lowering her arm as she sat up. Though how she was sitting in open space without a floor, she would never know.

Slowly, as if any sudden movement would cause some kind of catalyst, she looked around.

Black. Lots and lots of blackness, only ever obscured by stars floating in the distance. A few clouds of colorful vapor and space-dust congealed and soundlessly floated in dusty patches, yet not a single planet was present, aside from a full, glowing moon above her head. But there wasn't even a sun…

'_So then why can I see so well out here…? Better yet, how am I BREATHING?' _ She thought.

"P-Piper?" a meek voice called.

Swiftly turning, Piper breathed a sigh of relief, seeing her sister sitting a few feet away behind her. Though, Piper had to once again wonder just _how _they were sitting in open air like this…

"Uh, Peps?" Piper started, her voice seemingly echoing, despite the lack of walls.

"Y-yeah?" Pepper was obviously just as confused and nervous, if not totally through with all the surprises.

"Uh, we're in space, right?" Piper asked.

"I…think so…?" Pepper didn't sound too sure.

"And we're…alive still, right?"

"Yeah…?"

"So…_how?_"

"_**Heh, you are not in space children, hence why you can still breathe." **_

"EEK!" both girls jumped as the voice seemed to reverberate from every direction. It was both whispering in their ears, yet shouting from a distance. It was above, below, all around them. If that wasn't confusing, they didn't know what was.

"Wh-who's there?" Piper demanded with her usual paranoia.

"_**What? Forgot about me already? I'm hurt…"**_was the joking reply.

"Wait…" Pepper frowned, slipping out from behind her sister, "That voice…weren't you the one from that weird shrine…?

Piper blinked as her own realization dawned upon her, "Seriously?"

A gentle, humorous chuckle reverberated around them. It was a calm, soothing sound, but the fact they couldn't place the sound was a bit unnerving. It wasn't every day they got to talk to disembodied voices. But then again, it's not every day you wake up in a whole new world inhabited by sentient robots…

"_**Indeed I am!"**_he said.

"Uh…okay, great, you're the jerk that stranded us in a sci-fi movie," Piper said sarcastically, "Mind explaining a few things to us?"

"Piper…" Pepper scolded lightly.

"_**No, no, it's fine Pepper, her agitation is quite just. Although, I am not sure what a 'sci-fi' is…"**_the voice made a sound like it was clearing its throat, _**"But anyways, I can't explain too much. I haven't much time here with you two."**_

"Okay, and since we're on that, where exactly _is _here? You said we weren't in space." Piper pressed.

"_**No, this is not space,"**_he said, _**"Many call it the N-field."**_

"The N-what now?" both sisters asked.

"_**The N-field,"**_he explained, _**"Or 'Neutral' Field, is a place for those with strong spiritual powers can create and meditate in. It's basically an artificial world, a dimensional pocket. It's basically like limbo, a place in between the living and the dead." **_(7)

"So…why bring us here? We're not dead are we?" Piper inquired.

A chuckle was heard, _**"You are not dead, and I did not bring you here. You brought yourselves here. Not surprising really, considering your lineage."**_

"Okay…" Piper rubbed her temples with a deep frown, now more than a bit agitated, "Let's pretend I know what you're talking about here-"

"_**Alright…"**_

"-and get a few answers here…" she said, "You are saying we brought ourselves to this…dimensional pocket of our own power? How exactly did we do that?" (8)

"And why does it look like this? Better yet, why can't we see you?" Pepper added, looking around.

"You're not gonna tell us you're an invisible wizard are you?" (9)

"And where the heck is the floor?"

"Why _robots?_"

"_**Girls! Girls!"**_the voice called out in an orderly, but calm, tone, _**"One at a time. As I said, I don't have much time with you two here. I can only give you the basic rundown of things, and then I must go."**_

"Go where? We're in a…a G-Field, whatever, how exactly would ANY of us leave?" Piper snapped.

"_**It's N-Field, child, and you will leave once you wake up and-"**_

"We're asleep?" both asked at once. (10)

An exasperated sigh was heard around them. Piper couldn't help the tiny smirk that perked the corners of her lips up. She enjoyed pissing people off and annoying them. The more reserved the person was, the better. And to her, this regal voice just screams 'piss me off'.

"Erm, uh, excuse me…?" Pepper started meekly, "But…if we're asleep, how am I talking to Piper and you? Are you both just dream figments?"

"_**No, we are not. You and Piper have a shared N-field since you are twins. And even if you were not, you'd be able to enter each other's thoughts and interact. It's how your kind works."**_

"Wait, 'our kind'?" Piper inquired, "You mean humans? Last I checked, we were a couple years away from even perfecting the lie-detector, now you say we're capable of ESP?"

"…_**your ability to drive people up the wall is astounding."**_

"Thank you~!" Piper sang. Pepper palmed her forehead with a groan.

"Look…" the blue haired girl stepped out fully from behind her sister to take over the conversation before someone got hurt, "Can you just tell us what is going on? Why we're here?"

"Better yet, why we changed colors?"

"Shush Piper…"

"You want to know too!"

"Well yeah, but I think what he has to say is more important…"

"_**And it is, though the color change is more or less a side-effect to something I will explain later, but for now…"**_the voice seemed to hesitate before taking on a more serious tone, _**"The reason I brought you here is…well, as I said before, to help the people of this world."**_

"Of Mata-Nui you mean?" Piper inquired.

"_**Not just Mata-Nui, but yes,"**_he said, _**"You see, not too long ago, I felt a disturbing force of energy wash over my surface, and I had only felt it one other time."**_

"Meaning…?" Pepper persisted.

"_**It means an evil I helped lock away a very, very long time ago has awaked and broken free of its prison. And I, and my people, need your help to stop it and lock it back away."**_

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…" Piper help up her hands in a stopping motion, walking up beside her sister, "You're basically saying some psycho has escaped from his cage, and you asked us, _two humans girls_, to help put him away?"

"_**That about sums it up…"**_

"Oh, okay, just making sure. But uh, just one question?"

"_**Yes?"**_

"Uh, yeah, ARE YOU NUTS!?" Piper snapped to nothing in particular.

Pepper had the unsightly urge to palm her forehead for what had to be the fifth time in the span of twenty-four hours. She sometimes had to wonder if her sister was being deliberately overdramatic, or just exaggerating. Though by this point, it probably didn't matter…

No answer was made immediately. Pepper was getting that strange, uncomfortable feeling she got when an adult was staring at her with a disapproving frown.

An uncomfortable moment of silence passed before the voice spoke again.

"_**I know this is difficult to comprehend,"**_he said, _**"I cannot force you to believe what I say, but please, I ask you to just listen and keep an open mind."**_

The two sisters shared a somewhat uncertain look, crystalline amethyst meeting oceanic blue pools. It was as if they were having a telepathic conversation. But despite what people may say about twins, they couldn't read each other's minds. But, they knew how to read each other like a pair of books. Their eyes conveyed their emotions openly, but only to each other and no one else. They perfected the art of silent communication over the years; sometimes it was the only way they could comfort each other in those days…(11)

Piper was the first to break eye contact. She averted her gaze back into the void of space before her and her sister, as if she was able to see who it was that was speaking to them.

"Okay…" she said carefully, "Say we believe you and all this stuff…what _exactly_ are you asking of us? What is it that we have to protect?"

"What are we even protecting these people from?" Pepper added.

"_**That is…a bit difficult to answer little moon,"**_he said, uncertainly evident in his tone, _**"Tell me, when you think of 'evil', what is the first thing that comes to mind to describe a villain?"**_

The twins shared a somewhat somber expression before seeming to settle on a mental agreement.

"Someone hell-bent on covering the world in darkness?" Pepper supplied.

"Someone planning universal or world domination in its most destructive form?" Piper added.

"Some egomaniac that just thinks all will work out in the end when he becomes a dictator?"

"Someone with past sob-story quality anger issues who is merely venting because his dad didn't hug him enough?"

If they could see him, the girls were sure he'd be giving them incredulous looks, especially Piper. Hell, Pepper was starting to wonder why _she _wasn't giving her sister a disapproving look for that last one.

"…_**as lovely as those ideas are,"**_obvious sarcasm, _**"No. Though surprisingly, Piper's last…suggestion…was somewhat close."**_

"So we're _kind of_ up against someone who didn't get a hug?" Piper muttered, "By god, the universe is imploding…"

"_**As is my patience,"**_was the firm, but not unfriendly, reply, _**"But truly, is that what first comes to mind?"**_

"In our society, yes," Pepper said, "Though those situations usually occur in movies or bad shows. Real villainy in our society is associated with terrorism, assassination, mass murder…"

"Basically when the _important _people are attacked," Piper added, bearing her teeth, "If you're not rich, the president, or some other snob who couldn't give a single crap about others, you're expendable."

Pepper chose not to comment on her sister's statement. Partly because she was doing a good job being rude by herself, but also because she was right. She would silently agree with her purple counterpart, but for now, they needed answers. _Now_.

"Uh, mister…" she frowned and shook her blue head, "Voice, sir, whatever, can you please just tell us _what _is going on? You said you were running out of time…" (12)

A sigh, _**"Indeed, it seems I will have to be a bit straightforward until our next meeting."**_

"Next mee-" Piper had her sister's hand slapped over her mouth.

"So…?" Pepper urged, ignoring the blatant glare from her sibling.

"_**Yes, now then…"**_the voice started, once again taking on that more serious, if not somewhat strained tone, _**"As I said, this force is something prompted from…as Piper said, a rough start of life. Not unlike Makuta…"**_

"And that's _our _problem, how?" Piper broke in. Pepper put her hand back on her mouth.

"As crude as that was, she kind of has a point…" Said Pepper.

"And why do people keep mentioning this 'Makuta' thing?" Piper asked.

"_**At the moment, it is none of your concern whatsoever. As for Makuta…"**_a brief, unsteady pause, _**"It, or rather he, is also an enemy of this world. The Makuta are a group of beings composed of nothing but armor and an essence. Their leader, Teridax, has been in hiding for the last few hundred years. But now it seems he has been caught in the fray of this mess…"**_

"But what exactly does he have to do with this? We have to fight him too now?" Piper asked.

"_**Yes and no. It's a bit unclear. I only know he was brought into this unwillingly, and he has little to no say in his power now. This other force that has recruited him is powerful and boasts a will that can crush another's…" **_he said, but then he seemed to take on a slightly desperate tone, _**"Teridax is something dark and sinister on the outside, but truly, he is just hurt. And he was punished for feeling hurt and I…"**_

A strained pause stretched the silence. The girls were feeling uncomfortable, as if they had stepped into a funeral for someone they had no connections with. It was awkward and strange, but it felt like they had to pay some form of acknowledgment.

But before they could offer anything, a noise reminisce of one clearing their throat brought them out of their resolve.

"_**But that is a story for another time. No, it is time to focus on what truly matters. This force is not just something that endangers this world, but also your former home, Earth." **_

"Whoa, what?" Piper wrenched Pepper's hand off her mouth, "This thing is about to demolish earth?"

"_**Yes."**_

"…well then, where is this badie? I'd like to buy him a drink!" (13)

"-Piper-!"

"_**-Piper-!"**_

Piper blinked but meekly chuckled at the double-scolding. But her moment of self-congratulatory on her annoying prowess was short lived. The 'space' around them seemed to waver and distort. The stars around them were slowly blinking out, and the moon above them seemed to be going through its phases at a fast-forward pace. It was currently a half-moon now, the darkness closing in around it at a steady pace.

"What's happening?" Pepper asked worriedly.

"_**Ah…"**_the voice seemed to take on a fond tone despite what was happening, _**"It seems one of the little ones has come to wake you two up. Not the best timing, but we will have to make due."**_

"Wait, what?" Piper said, feeling her footing waver on the 'ground', "We're waking up now?"

"But we don't know anything yet!" Pepper exclaimed, grabbing onto her sister's arm as the proverbial floor seemed to shudder and quake.

"_**Yes, indeed,"**_was the condensing response, _**"However, this will not be the last time we meet. We have plenty of time to sort things out."**_

"But is there something you can tell us _now? _As straight forwardly as possible?" Piper asked. She yelped as she felt the floor crumble under her, part of her left foot now dangling in midair. Pepper also seemed to be experiencing the same thing as their 'island' grew smaller.

"_**Yes…"**_he said, seemingly weary now, though from Piper's antics or something else, it was hard to tell, _**"Simply remember this."**_

A pause before he spoke, the distortion around their void becoming more and more apparent as the moon waned into a thin crescent.

"_**Stars burn and fall, while moons starve and become hollow,"**_he said in a firm tone, _**"NEVER…let any of these things happen to each other."**_

"What? That doesn't make any-!"

"_Piper? Pepper?"_

"Wha…? Is that-"

"_**My child is here to wake you. See to it that you both gain his trust, and you will never have to worry about what I just told you. Goodbye girls."**_

"WAIT-!"

"Ah-EEK!"

The girls squeaked (though Piper would fully deny it) as they came face to mask with a familiar white and blue Matoran leaning over their bed. Well, now more leaning back while the girls had shot up and nearly slamming their foreheads right into the scope on his eye. Piper was also now sprawled out on the floor from where she fell out of the small bed. Both the girls were sweating and panting in obvious shock, their skin clammy and hands shaking. The same question as also running through their heads.

_What just happened?_

"Um…girls…?" they looked up at the still slightly stunned Matoran's blue eyes, all of which were widened in slight confusion and nervousness.

"Um…is this a bad time?" he asked carefully.

"Uhh…" was their intelligent response.

Though no sooner did they enter their confused stupor, they snapped out of it when they realized they weren't alone in the room with just Matoro.

Just behind the slight being was a large wall of various colors and shapes. It took them a moment to properly put the shapes and colors together in their frazzled minds, they seemed to realize what they were looking at. They were now a bit unsure if they should feel embarrassed or frightened by this…

Matoro cleared his throat and folded his hands behind his back, his posture straightening.

"Piper, Pepper, these are the Turaga of our island…" he gestured to the group of colorful beings with a meek smile.

The twins locked back onto the colorful spectrum before them, both taking note of the expressions they could vaguely make out from their visages. A couple of them seemed surprised, shocked even. One looked a bit concerned. And another (this one they recognized to be Nuju) looked unimpressed. Actually, now that they thought about it, they _all _seemed a bit unimpressed.

And of course, Piper just had to add on to their growing pile of tactlessness.

"So…" she said, giving them her trademark grin, "How's it going?"

Pepper prompted fell back in bad and hid her face under a pillow. Matoro gave her a sympathetic smile at this…

To be continued…

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

_1-)...well its true. Why would they stop there? XD_

_2-) No Matau, you are NOT allowed to be the voice of reason in ANY situation. So stop it. You're not doing it right. _

_3-) Nuju's taking a kind of more...ah, you know when if a kid brings home a stray animal and starts feeding it human food, and the adults are just kind of worried it's gonna get sick and make a mess of things and such? Yeah, Nuju's more worried about word spreading around his assistant had possibly killed someone via food poisoning than the girls' actual health. But no worries! He'll warm up to them soon! 83_

_4-) 'Internal-armor' = bones. I'm still a bit on the fence about Bionicle anatomy, but in my canon, they do have a type of metallic-calcium bone structure. Basically like our bone structure, but its more made up of irons and metals that circulate through their bodies. They are denser and harder to break, but are also hollow and lightweight. Po and Onu Matoran typically have heavier bone structures, while others have 'standard' or lighter bone structures._

_5-) All will be revealed in good time my lovely readers~_

_6-) Let the record show that fabric and other clothing material is common in my canon verse. The weaver in the actual canon was said to make string and rope, it's safe to assume they can make other materials for, say, blankets or other such necessities._

_7-) I got the N-field concept from somewhere, but I find it quite fitting honestly. But yes, it is basically like a neutral field of dimensional space. _

_8-) This is an actual phenomena. It's called 'Astral Projection', the ability in which one is able to project his or herself outside the body. This form of meditation was often used in various cultures as a means of spiritual journey and growth. Some people to this day have been known to do it, some even by accident. Children have also been known to astral project during very spiritually sensitive times of their lives. This argument falls under the category of children and paranormal activity and is widely discussed and debated. The movie 'Insidious' actually includes a bit of a study on Astral Projection._

_9-) Ha ha ha, Pacifier reference XD_

_10-) Some people claim it to be easier to astral project in their sleep. Those who have dreams of wandering their own home or outside are said to have unknowingly astral projected in these cases. _

_11-) Twins have been continuously theorized to possess an amount of ESP between one another. Though it is not fully certain, and is heavily debated to this day, I find the idea quite believable. But I doubt they have full mind reading abilities between each other._

_12-) Mister voice here is going to be gaining a pseudo name later on, though by now, I'm pretty you've all figured out who this person really is. There are quite a few hints in his comments and such._

_13-) Warning: you're all going to get an even bigger taste of Piper's snarky prowess all throughout this story. Enjoy. XD_


	6. The Words Sound Steady

**Waiting for the End.**

Ch. 6

The Words Sound Steady.

_Writers unite, and Revolt!_

Characters: Piper (OC), Pepper (OC).

Universe: Bionicle, AU.

Genre: Angst, hurt/comfort, adventure.

This is NOT Humanized!Bionicle this time, but canon-based Bionicle.

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

Everyone has been one of those prolonged, awkward moments of floor-staring and silence. That stand-still point in time where a group of people has absolutely _nothing_ to say or inquire. Even if they had a whole speech planned out in their heads, it won't work out. Because those awkward silences will always come up at the most inappropriate of times. _Always. _This apparently also applied to other races.

Case in point, like now.

'_Well this isn't at all weird…' _Piper thought sarcastically.

But seriously? Did Matoro have to bring these influential people all in at once while she and her sister were _sleeping?_ And if what she was seeing in the mirror out of the corner of her eye was anything to go by, she was pretty sure they were not the least bit presentable. Her pigtails looked like matted pom-poms, and Pepper's head looked like a blue hedgehog. Not to mention they were still filthy…

The awkward tension in the room seemed to escalate as the girls got up and stood at their full height. It seemed the one closest to their height was the rather burly looking black Turaga with green eyes. If the color, size, and general look to him wasn't intimidating, the rather pointy looking drill on his staff was. (1)

Seemingly sensing the peak of a rather unnecessary staring-contest, Matoro cleared his throat again and moved so he stood between the two groups with his back to the girls.

"If I may have you all go ahead to the meeting room, I have refreshments waiting for you there," he said, "In the meantime, I would like to escort the girls to the bathing faculties. We seem to have caught them off guard."

Tension slowly drained from the robotic beings at the light request. Nuju himself was caught between sighing in utter relief and pride for his Matoran's quick reflexes. Leave it to Matoro to break the ice and persuade others away from an uncomfortable situation.

Clearing his throat, the orange Turaga nodded, "Ah, yes, indeed. Perhaps we should-"

"What the Karzahni _are_ those things?" the brown one suddenly blurted.

Exasperated sighs were shared, while the girls seemed to blush a few dozen shades of red. Matoro, surprisingly, looked annoyed. Or as annoyed as someone with a robotic facial structure and one visible eye can look.

Though Piper, of course, always had retaliations.

"The hell is up with your face?" she inquired.

"Piper…!" Pepper hissed.

"_Excuse_ me?" The brown one growled.

"You're excused." Piper said, crossing her arms.

"Why I ought to-"

"Children…" The orange one said firmly, "If we are quite done, I'm sure we can hold off on the banter-war for a few minutes. We have more important things to do right now."

Both huffing simultaneously, Piper and her adversary turned their noses up and turned back to their respective group, all of which were giving their respective companion disapproving looks. Not that either party was surprised by their actions; both were quite used to their self-proclaimed peanut gallery's snark.

"Anyways…" again, the orange one took charge, "We shall be waiting in the meeting room for you so we may further discuss the…situation."

"_Indeed…" _Nuju muttered, eyeing his beige colleague disdainfully.

"Um, sure…" Pepper said uncertainly.

Nodding once, the group of elders turned and filed out the door, leaving only the girls and Matoro behind, along with an atmosphere of uncertainty.

Once the door was shut, Matoro freely let out an exasperated sigh.

"You'd think I'd be used to this by now…" he muttered.

"Yeah no seriously, what the _hell_ was that?" Piper inquired.

"_That_ was just Turaga Onewa being…well, Onewa," Matoro stated, "Don't mind him though, he's all bark and no bite."

"You don't say…" Piper muttered.

"Wait, did you mention something about bathing?" Pepper broke in, her blue eyes sparkling with excitement. (2)

"Hm? Oh! Yes, I did," Matoro said, gesturing to the door, "I originally was going to come get you so you could freshen up, but the Turaga all got here earlier than I expected, ergo why I was so ill prepared."

The embarrassment was evident in both his tone and body language, but neither of the girls could really blame him.

"Anyways, the bathroom is down the hall, first door on the left. There are some new coverings I got for you on the counter, courtesy of a weaver friend of mine." He said. (3)

'_Coverings…? Does he mean clothes?'_ the girls thought in amusement.

"So when you're done, we'll be waiting in the room across from the bath."

"Oh god, thank you so much Matoro!" Pepper bounced on her feet at the thought of getting out of her musty old rags. Although she didn't take into account that the rooms were meant to accommodate beings much shorter than her and her sister…

"OW!" which resulted in her head hitting a support beam above her. (4)

Piper and Matoro winced as the blue haired girl rubbed at the developing bump on her head.

"Um, are you okay?" Matoro asked in concern.

"It happens a lot…" Piper sighed, patting her sister's shoulder.

"Y-yeah, I'm good. Erm, and thanks again." Pepper smiled meekly with an embarrassed blush.

Matoro smiled, "No problem! Oh, and there's also a first aid kit in the bathroom for your wounds. We'll see you when you're done."

Giving a polite incline of the head, the white Matoran turned and left the girls alone, leaving the door open for them. Once he was gone, something finally seemed to occur to Piper…

"Peps…" she started slowly, "Do you know what this means…?"

"I'm gonna have a goose egg on my head?" Pepper guessed, rubbing said bump with a pout.

"Well yeah, that, but no…" Piper's mouth broke out into a grin, "It means that this is going to be our first real bath with SOAP in over a MONTH…!"

With this in mind, the girls wasted no time in barreling down the hall – nearly crawling over one another – before slamming the bathroom door shut and took full advantage of the almost Japanese bathhouse style bathroom…(5)

~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~

"I call utter Kane-ra bull shit…" Onewa grunted, violently biting down on one of the snacks Matoro brought out.

"Onewa…" Nokama scolded, utterly unimpressed with her colleague's foul mouth.

"What? You're thinking it too! Those…_things_…cannot possibly be for real!" he snapped.

"We won't know anything until they come back and explain things themselves…" Vakama said wearily.

"What else is there to explain? Matoro already gave us a rather detailed rundown of the situation, and even still, I don't fully believe it…" Whenua looked to the small Matoran beside Nuju, "No offence."

"None taken." Was the soft reply as the mentioned Matoran sipped his drink calmly, as if completely devoid of any worry about the situation – which he likely was.

Nuju sighed, irritated, _"Look, as farfetched as this entire thing is, I want to keep an open mind about this-"_

"Hah! Since when are you ever 'open minded'?" Onewa interrupted with a raised brow ridge.

"Since I decided to put my trust into my Matoran's intuition. Now either stuff your mouth with that cookie or-…Spirits above Turaga, that's disgusting…" Matoro muttered, not even bothering to finish his translation. (6)

Nuju merely smirked smugly and nibbled on a Bula Berry wedge. Matau snorted at the other while Onewa glowered at the smug ice Turaga.

"Listen here you, as much as I _love_ being subjected to your innate sense of humor, you can go take that staff of yours and shove it up your-!"

Knock, knock, knock!

"Erm, hello?" came the sound of Piper's voice from behind the door to their meeting room.

"Oh, come in!" Matoro called, ignoring Onewa's indignant grumbling.

The door opened cautiously, admitting the now clean and redressed sisters into the room. Unlike their old clothes, the ones they wore now were much simpler and somewhat plain. Both wore loose off-white tunics and matching pants. (7) The fabric was thin yet soft, like a very light silk. They were both barefoot, the two having decided to leave their old, filthy socks off so they would not worry about infections setting into the now bandaged cuts on their feet. Their hair was still slightly damp, but now completely devoid of tangles, matts and filth; Piper's done up in her signature pigtails and Pepper sporting her natural spikes.

Piper grinned at Matoro, "Dude, no joke. The bath was heaven, these clothes are awesome, and I think I love you. Please marry me~"

"S-sissy!" Pepper exclaimed, now thoroughly embarrassed.

Matoro seemed to flush ten shades of red, "Marry…?" (8)

"Haha! I'm only kidding!" The purple haired girl slapped him on the back – Matoro lurched from the smack – and laughed, "Oh you poor thing, your mask is red as a tomato!"

"_Ahem!"_ Nuju loudly cleared his throat, catching the girls' attention, _"If we're quite done…" _he gave Piper a certain glare full of overprotective tension.

Piper merely stuck her tongue out at him, causing Pepper to sigh.

"Sis, you are a dork…" she said, exasperated.

"But I'm YOUR dork~" Piper sang, hugging her sister's arm. Pepper couldn't hide the humorous grin if she tried.

"So! What's with the Power Ranger Rainbow Crew?" she asked.(9) Pepper had the unsightly urge to crawl back under the bed…

"The power what now…?" Matau asked, bewildered.

"Ah, girls, these are the Turaga of Mata-nui…" Matoro cut in before another verbal showdown could ensure. He gestured to each Turaga in turn.

"This is Turaga Vakama, Nokama, Whenua, Onewa, and of course you know Matau and Nuju." He said.

"Hi…" Pepper tried meekly.

"Sup guys?" Piper offered with a cheeky grin.

Matoro rolled his eyes, "And everyone, this is Piper and Pepper, the humans I told you about."

A few unsure, though polite, nods were offered to them at this. The orange one – now dubbed Vakama – gestured to the table between the girls from the Turaga and Matoro.

"Please, have a seat you two," he said, "We obviously have much to discuss."

Though hesitant, the girls shrugged and took out the two seats in front of them. It was a bit difficult to get comfortable in them – the seats were like the kiddie chairs of an elementary school classroom, and were obviously not built to accommodate anyone larger than a Turaga. (10)

Though the presentation of food and drinks brought to them by Matoro was a great method of forgetting their discomfort – both from the chairs and the uncertain stares by the Turaga.

"Wow, this looks great!" Piper had no problem diving into her snack and drink. Pepper however chose to take a more civil approach and nibbled delicately on what looked like a shortbread cookie.

"Now then, obviously we got off to a bit of an odd start," Vakama started, "If it would not be too much trouble, we would simply like to know a bit about yourselves and your kind."

The proverbial and literal spotlight was on them now. The girls shared a look between one another, caught once again off guard. They felt like deer caught in headlights with all the eyes staring them down. A few beats passed before they showed even a remote sign that they had, in fact, not turned into statues.

Piper, using her forearm, wiped the crumbs of her snack off her face and tossed back her drink – an herbal tea that reminded her of Earl Grey.

'_God I hope this doesn't go like an AA meeting…' _she thought.

"So, uh, hey, I'm Piper, the purple haired girl, and uh…" she paused and looked over at Pepper for help.

"Um, w-we were born in the USA – or United States of America – which is a country on Earth, and um…"

"We, uh, we're female obviously…"

"I'm 5"2 and she's 5"4…"

"I'm the youngest by five minutes though!"

"We both like drawing and art…"

"I read a lot."

"Um, we're a bit confused by all this?"

"Wow this cookie is delicious…" (11)

The odd looks they were getting from the Turaga and Matoro were a bit disconcerting. Though in their defense, neither of the girls have ever really spoken about themselves to others. There was never a need to, and they both knew what the other liked. The only time people have ever spoken to them was to either call them 'bums' or 'street rats' or some other variation of the names…

"Ah…I see?" Vakama stated, uncertain, "Well I suppose it's a start…"

Nokama nodded, "Matoro tells us you said a voice in the mist brought you here. Is this true?"

Onewa snorted at this, "And what exactly did this 'voice' say?"

"Onewa…" Vakama warned.

"What? I'm just trying to stay realistic. Usually when someone hears disembodied voices or something, they're nuts!" he said, but then smirked, "Or they're you, but you're an exception."

An exaggerated sigh and Vakama pinched the bridge of his nose.

Piper raised an unimpressed brow and Onewa, "Well aren't you charming…"

"_Isn't he though?"_ Nuju remarked dryly.

"Oh come off it icy. How do you know they're not trying to trick us? Matau could – for once – be right, and these things could just be a new product of Makuta!" Onewa snapped.

"Seriously, how do you guys know about Pokémon?" Piper asked, probing a cookie crumb.

"Um, do any of you know about…what did he call it? 'N-field'?" Pepper asked.

Immediately their attention was caught by Nokama, who shushed the others and nodded towards Pepper.

"N-field? As in the meditative state?" she asked.

"Yeah! Wait, how did you know?" Piper asked.

"Ga-Matoran are notorious in the field of meditation and spiritual enlightenment," Nokama explained, "It is in our nature to desire peace of mind after all, as one of our own principles is purity." (12)

"_Ko-Matoran are also very well adverse to this. Our standing principle is peace, and therefore my people are adamant at keeping a clear mind." _Nuju added.

Nokama nodded, "Many Ga and Ko-Matoran have claimed to see the N-field during meditation, but no one is certain. But how is it you know of it?"

The girls once again eye each other, now quite uncomfortable. They basically had stated they experienced something that was very important to these people's culture and living – one carelessly stated word could be a great insult to them.

Well, they thought, it's not like things could escalate any further…

"The uh…voice…told us about it," Piper started, "When we asked where we were. Apparently we somehow brought ourselves to an N-field…while we were asleep."

"So a disembodied voice in your heads told you about the N-field…and you two somehow ended up in one _while_ you were asleep…" Onewa said incredulously.

"Yes." Piper said firmly, her eyes narrowed into a glare at the beige Turaga.

"Uh-huh…did you also see dancing pink Kikanalo and flying Takea sharks?"

"I don't even know what those are!"

"That's enough!" Vakama bellowed. He frowned at Onewa.

"That's quite enough from you Onewa, you do not need to egg these two on any further. Act your age already." He said firmly.

Onewa huffed and waved Vakama off, returning Piper's glare before stiffly drinking down his tea. Attention was now back on the girls.

"Is there anything else this voice said?" Vakama asked.

"No, I don't – oh!" Piper suddenly perked up, "He told us what that Makuta thing was."

Anyone in the room that wasn't Piper or Pepper was suddenly alert and at full attention. It was slightly unnerving to watch a room full of once disconcerting people watching them with such serious intensity.

"What did he say about Makuta…?" Vakama asked carefully.

"Um…" Pepper started nervously, "H-he said Makuta are a dark and sinister people…that they're not like you, but essence in armor. And one of them, their leader, he had a name…what was it…?"

"Umm…Teri…ox? Teri-pox? Teri-lax…?" Piper muttered.

"Teridax?" Whenua asked.

"Yeah! That's it! Teridax!" she said, "The voice said he was involved in this somehow, but not willingly. He said Teridax somehow got caught up with this other force or person, and something about it being able to crush wills or something?"

The Turaga didn't seem to be paying much attention. Like the girls were doing a moment ago, various colored eyes were glancing back and forth between one another, tension and uncertainty radiating off of them. A few hushed mutters and whispers were shared before Vakama sighed and shook his head.

"Well, this ultimately proves what you say is true, or at least you're being told the truth by someone," he said, "No one else could have told them what a Makuta was, let alone mention Teridax's name."

"Did anyone else speak with or interact with them?" Whenua asked Matoro. The Matoran shook his head.

"No, I was with them most of the time, and their room was right across from where we were," he said, "We would have heard if someone came in and spoke with them."

"Um, did we do something wrong…?" Pepper asked meekly.

"No, no young one, this is just…a bit of a touchy subject due to past history. It's nothing that requires your concern." Vakama reassured gently.

"Okay, so what does all this star and moon stuff mean then? He mentioned something about powers to us." Piper inquired.

"Powers?" Matau asked. The girls nodded.

"He didn't give any specifics, but apparently this voice thinks we can do stuff no humans are capable of…" Pepper explained.

"Yeah, humans are like the Matoran here, or so Matoro says," Piper said, "We don't have powers, but we're capable of doing stuff. But we're not about to hurl boulders or breathe fire."

A few stunned blinked before eyes were now on Matoro. The white Matoran gave a meek smile.

"Ah, a bit of misinformation on my part," he said, looking to the twins, "Matoran can have certain powers and abilities, but I was specifying the Matoran of this island. The Matoran here have no powers as far as I know, and nor do I." (13)

"_If you don't count the power of being an utter thorn in my side…"_ Nuju muttered. Matoro scoffed and crossed his arms.

"Anyways, from what they told me, humans – being fully organic – are not capable of housing any kind of energy that would benefit an ability or power," He added, "But anyways, I figured Nuju would be able to help you decipher the symbolism of these recurring star and moon references."

"How so…?" Pepper asked curiously.

"Because icy-stiff here was the top know-it-all for astrology." Matau threw in.

"_It's astronomy Kohlii-head…"_ Nuju grumbled. (14)

"Really? Wow, that's kind of cool…"

"It means he can build-create rockets!"

"_Now you're just being an ass…"_ Matau merely cackled to himself while the others rolled their eyes.

"So then…?" Piper urged the grey and white Turaga. He shook his head.

"_I will not know anything right now, I would need to consult my studies and references, as well as those amulets you two have."_ He explained.

"Geez, we're too young to be going through all this…" Piper groaned.

"How old are you two anyways?" Onewa asked with a raised brow ridge.

"We're 17." Both said simultaneously.

Dead silence, and a lot of wide-eyed staring. The girls blinked at their shocked expressions.

"What?" Piper asked.

"Alright, now I know _that_ has to be a lie," Onewa said, "You two look _at least_ a few thousand years old!"

"Excuse me!?" Piper exclaimed.

"Erm, if I may interject? They are not of our species, and probably age differently to begin with…" Matoro flicked an eye at them, "Right…?"

"Hell yes!" Piper snapped, "We're practically adults now! How old are you supposed to be? You don't _sound_ much older than us!"

"I'm 9,518 just last month…" Matoro said, twiddling his fingers shyly. (15)

"_Still considerably young in our society. He won't be considered a youngling anymore once he reaches 10,000." _Nuju added. (16)

The girls just _stared _at the Matoran as if he…oh who were they kidding? This couldn't get any weirder even if they tried. They were far beyond being done with this whole thing.

"Too…fricken…weird…" Piper said, "Must be a hassle to get all those candles on a birthday cake…" (17)

"A birth-what-now?"

"Never mind…" Pepper rubbed her forehead as a small headache set in.

"Ahem, ah, well, aside from that, it seems age wouldn't have much to do with your situation either, or maybe it does," Vakama broke in, hoping to clear the air of the scattered energy, "But all in all, it seems we need to do a bit of digging before we can conclude anything."

"Yes, and until then you two will have to take up residence somewhere." Nokama said.

"Question is, where?" Whenua inquired.

"Any place is better than where we came from…" Pepper muttered. Actually, any place with a bed and some aspirin would be fantastic now that she thought about it.

"Hm…hey Matoro, where did you say you lived?" Piper asked, making sure Vakama could hear them.

"In Ko-koro, why?" the Matoran asked. Piper only grinned.

"No reason~" She sang.

"Hm, well then, seeing as how trusting they are of Matoro, I'd say put them in residence in Ko-koro. It would be convenient to have Nuju nearby if he can figure this out after all," Vakama said with a knowing grin.

"_Excuse me!?"_

"I also seem to recall you mentioning Kopaka moving to a different housing location last week, and his old home is still empty, yes?" the orange Turaga ignored his colleague's outburst, "The girls are a bit bigger than us, so a Toa sized home should be perfect for them." (18)

"I agree with this plan!" Piper chimed.

"So we're going with the grouchy guy?" Pepper asked.

"_Who are you calling grouchy!?"_

"Eh, we've seen grouchier. Plus, Matoro seems to like him, maybe he's really a softy inside." Piper teased, poking Nuju's arm.

The Turaga swatted Piper's hand away – wow his hand was really hard – and glared daggers at Vakama.

"_Absolutely not. How the Karzahni am I supposed to explain to my Matoran their arrival? And the Toa! They, especially Tahu, are not going to take this lightly!" _Nuju snapped.

"My point exactly, which is why they cannot come with me," Vakama said, "Tahu will roast them alive!"

"I can't take them, they're organic. The desert will dry them up in a minute." Onewa grunted.

"Unless they know how to calmly navigate shifting tunnels, heads that are not easily concussed, and have good eye sight, they can't come to my koro." Whenua added.

"No way! My Matoran are already up in a fright-tizzy because of them. And they don't look-seem like tree-climbers." Matau was now out.

Nuju shot Nokama a desperate look, an odd mindset. She shook her head and gave an apologetic smile.

"Sorry Nuju, as much as I would like to take them to Ga-koro, we're all going to be too busy repairing the docks from the last storm. Plus, we have no available housing for them at the moment." She said.

"_But the snow-"_

"Is at its lowest point now. It's summer after all, and the chances of blizzards has dropped," Matoro threw in his two cents, "Besides, we just finished out summer preparations early, our food supply is practically overstocked, and Kopaka isn't exactly one to freeze and ask questions later, _and_ we have living arrangements already done for them."

Nuju gaped at his assistant with an incredulous gaze, _"Exactly whose side are you on…?"_

"Great! So when do we leave?" Piper asked cheerfully.

"As soon as we finish up here," Vakama supplied, "If you're lucky, you may meet Kopaka when you get there, and possibly some of his brothers and sister."

"Wait, he has siblings?" Pepper asked.

"Oh. No, not in the same sense like you and Piper, it's more like teammates," Matoro elaborated, "Though fair warning, he can be just as 'grouchy' as Nuju."

Nuju's retaliation was to calmly sock the Matoran upside the head with his staff. He gave an amused 'ow', causing Pepper to giggle at the cheeky grin Matoro wore.

"_Alright, if we're done playing 'let's see how much we can piss of Nuju', can we go now?" _Nuju growled.

"Yes, yes, I think we're done here, unless the girls have anything else to add?" Vakama motioned over to the twins. They glanced at one another before shaking their heads.

"No, I think that's it…" Pepper said.

"Party at Nuju's!" Piper cheered, grabbing her sister and bolting for their room to get their shoes and bags.

"_Now wait just a-…ugh!" _Nuju grit his teeth and slumped over. The others just chuckled as they all packed up and left.

Once they were gone, Nuju let his chin fall and rest over the edge of the meeting table. Matoro only shook his head and pat his shoulder.

"You are such a drama queen." He sighed.

"_You're one to talk, volunteering my village like that. What do you hope to accomplish with this!?" _Nuju snapped.

Matoro shrugged, "Who knows? But I do know things will turn out okay. These girls need our help after all."

"_Not everyone can be saved Matoro, you of all people know this…"_

"Yes, I am very well aware of this Nuju Mata, but I am not going to sit here and watch two girls destroy themselves when I could at the very least give them a meager scrap of _sanity_ and stability while they stay on this god forsaken island." (19)

The words were said swiftly and sternly, almost harsh. Nuju felt himself cringe slightly under the stony smile looming over him. He felt a small creep of shame worm its way into his being, and he couldn't save himself from that gaze even if he wanted to. The Turaga sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"_I'm sorry, Matoro…" _he said softly.

"No, that was out of line…" Matoro sighed, smiling wearily at Nuju, "Just…try to be supportive, please?"

"_Aren't I already supportive?"_

"You are, to _me_, but not so much others."

"_That's because others suck…"_

"And that's _their _problem, not ours…" Matoro frowned and raised a brow at Nuju, "Did you just say 'suck'?"

"_Oh grow up."_

"You did! You totally did!"

"_Okay, that is not the first time I have said 'suck'."_

"I'm pretty sure it is…" (20)

"Pretty sure what is?"

The pair turned away from their 'mature' bantering and averted their gazes to the door. Piper and Pepper stood before the open door, both now wearing their – somewhat – cleaned shoes and their bags slung over their shoulders.

"We miss anything?" Piper asked.

Matoro merely gave Nuju one last grin before getting up from his seat.

"Nope! Are we ready to head out?" he asked.

"You bet!" the twins said in unison.

Nuju sighed as the three almost immediately launched into a conversation. Great, he was taking home two humans. What were the others thinking? The girls were organic, they were probably going to freeze to death before they reached they reached the village. And all so he could introduce the girls to an unprepared village of Ko-Matoran and one flaky Toa of ice.

This could only end well…

To be continued…

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

_1-) Whenua's staff is equipped with a drill on its top._

_2-) Let the record show that Piper and Pepper have not had a proper bath/shower since they left home - which, in their time, was a bit over a month ago._

_3-) By coverings, he means clothes. The Bionicle people in this canon do not wear clothes - when if they do, it's only ever as a display of authority or as decorative gard for festivals or other occasions. Only Turaga have been known to wear some form of cloth 24/7 (their cape things) while most others don't normally wear anything._

_4-) Both the girls are taller than all except the Toa. The building they are staying in is mostly meant for Matoran or Turaga, and is therefore a bit small for them to be in. They can stand up straight in the building, but it is not a good idea for them to get 'jumpy'._

_5-) I can clearly imagine this actually. Those of you who have watched a good number of animes have likely seen this, or if you have watched Spirited Away, you can give yourself a very nice mental image of the bathing faculties I imagine the Bionicle people have._

_6-) Matoro isn't one for profanity or crude comments. So whenever Nuju gets a bit too graphic in his wording, he'll cut it off or break it down in a more polite manner. Or in this case, he need not say more since the banter wasn't really an important aspect to the meeting itself._

_7-) Since the Matoran have no real grasp on 'fashion', and nor did Matoro have their measurements or know of their preferences, I can imagine Matoro would have to go with a kind of cookie-cutter look for them. But fear not! They will be getting a lovely wardrobe change soon~_

_8-) I highly doubt marriage is a thing in their world - Greg has openly stated that 'romance' was not in their quadrant of emotions - but here in this fic, it is a factor. There shall be some minor romance down there road, featuring one of my OTPs~ X3_

_9-) Haha...man, I have no idea. XD_

_10-) Again, the Turaga and Matoran are noticeably smaller than humans, at least in terms of proportions since their anatomy is not solely based on bone and muscle structure. Ergo furniture is a bit of a dilemma between them._

_11-) You wouldn't be able to tell, but the girls are not used to being the center of a conversation or attention *sarcasm*_

_12-) the Matoran principles, or sub-virtues, are what each koro stands for and lives by. For example, Peace and Willpower are the principles of Ko-koro, Courage and Strength are of Ta-koro, and purity and speed are of ga-koro._

_13-) If you read the books pertaining to the Mask of Life, you will see that Matoran like Galu and Kazi had powers, and were able to channel them through tools._

_14-) Astronomy - the study of stars and planets. Astrology - the study of horoscope and celestial signs. Big difference._

_15-) Well yeah, the Bionicle people live a LONG time if you look at some of the time-frames on wikis, then look at character status'._

_16-) In this canon, Matoran ages 10,000 to 50,000 are considered young adults, the equivalent of a 20 year old. Anything below that is still considered a youngling, or a child. Anything above that time frame is seen as a full adult or 'old'. Here Matoro would be the equivalent of an 18 year old. However, in this, Matoran ages are not measured by physical aging or the number of years they came off the assembly line, rather they are judged and given a sense of 'age' by their life experience and general maturity in attitude. It is said that Le-Matoran NEVER grow up. lol_

_17-) my headcanon for the canon verse is that Matoran do not have birthdays, but will celebrate their 'birth' on occasion, or during a holiday._

_18-) The girls are, as said, bigger than Matoran and slightly bigger than Turaga. Toa can measure anywhere from 6 feet to a little over this, so a Toa sized home would be scaled to the size of your average human house._

_19-) This speech loosely translates to, 'yes, I know I had an awful past and you saved me, you don't need to remind me, so piss off and help me. I'm not asking for your organs asshat.'_

_20-) HAHAHAHAHAHAHHA! NUJU SAID 'SUCK' OH GOD I CAN'T STOP LAUGHING!_


	7. Something Empty's Within

**Waiting for the End.**

Ch. 7

Something empty's within.

_A/N~ One, two, three, four, Shaman knocking at the door~ Five, six, seven, eight, close your eyes for inner space~ Nine, ten, eleven, destination: Heaven~ Numberless reality, vision of infinity~!_

_Hehehe, I love Nightcore. Damn songs are catchy. So! Let us begin! Enjoy this new chapter, and the re-post of Waiting for the End. _

_Writers unite, and revolt!_

Characters: Piper (OC), Pepper (OC).

Universe: Bionicle, AU.

Genre: Angst, hurt/comfort, adventure.

This is NOT Humanized!Bionicle this time, but canon-based Bionicle.

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

"You know, if someone told me I would be riding a giant crab in a world full of robots sometime in my life, I'd knock their teeth in. _After _I stopped laughing my heart out."

And she really would have. But then again, Piper never expected it to be _true_.

She and her sister, though not actually riding on the crabs themselves, were quite shocked to see such things as their mode of transportation. The girls, as well as Nuju and Matoro, were all perched in a wagon-like chariot being pulled by two crabs. Two very huge-ass crabs, as Piper had said. She and Pepper nearly had a double heart attack when they first saw them.

"Those things are _tame!?_" Pepper had exclaimed when they were led into one of the crab pens below the tree-village of Le-koro.

"You don't eat them?" were Piper's words, which earned her quite a few horrified looks from the Le-Matoran tending to the crabs. Matoro remarked that she was lucky she didn't say such words in Onu-koro; the Onu-Matoran would have mobbed her.

The mentioned Ko-Matoran, sitting across from them on the opposite bench, snorted at the remark.

"What do humans use for transportation?" he asked curiously.

"We have machines that run on fossil fuels and gasoline called cars," Pepper explained, "There are different types of cars in our world; I suppose this wagon would be the equivalent to our buses."

"Buses?" the Matoran inquired.

"Public transportation," Piper elaborated, "You can own a car, but they're expensive, and you need to be a certain age to own one, and have a license."

"Strange…" Matoro muttered. Next to him, Nuju rolled his eyes.

"_You're one to talk," _he said, _"I seem to recall you trying to tame a Pigmy Muaka so you could ride it."_

"Hey! It was a legitimate idea!" Matoro defended, "And anyways, just because you're sulking, doesn't mean you need to bring up my past shortcomings."

"_I am not sulking!"_

The two girls watched the back and forth exchange of banter and light-hearted arguing, both unsure what to make of the whole thing. Though it was humorous, it raised a couple questions in their heads. Piper was the one who finally spoke up.

"So are you guys like, related or something?" she asked. The question got their attention, both sets of glacier eyes blinking at her, while her sister seemed to consider the question herself.

"Related…?" Matoro parroted. Piper nodded.

"Yeah," she said, "I mean, you two obviously get along well, and your banter to one another is practically a science."

"Yeah, and we didn't see the other Turaga with a Matoran, so we kind of wondered." Pepper added, considering the two robotic beings.

Nuju quirked one of the ridges that served as an eyebrow on his mask, _"And when you say related, you mean…?"_

"You know, like father and son." Piper tossed out. She got a couple of lost looks from the two beings, all of which made the girls frown.

"You…do know what a father and son is, right?" Pepper asked.

"_I can hazard a guess, but I think it would be best if you explained it to us before we make assumptions."_ Nuju said evenly, both a bit curious yet irritated from the lack of knowledge.

"Oh, uh, okay then," Pepper said, "Well, a son is a male born child. Usually brought up between one female, and one male."

"We also have cases of same sex couples in our world," Piper chipped in, "But they can't, uh, 'have' children, they need to adopt or…use other methods." By then she backed off; she wasn't going to start a conversation about the birds and bees of their world.

"Heh, right," Pepper seemed amused by her sister's embarrassment, "Anyways, a father is basically the male role model to any child born between him and his spouse. Or really any child who is raised or brought up under an elder male."

"Yeah, and it's not at all uncommon for the son and father to be very close," Piper added, "It's a bonding thing, sons are usually most bonded with their fathers. It's a male pride thing I think."

"And you are saying I seem to have this…bond…with Nuju…" it wasn't a question, but the way Matoro said it was a bit disconcerting. He almost sounded stony, like an actual robot.

"Well yeah," Pepper said, "You two look a bit alike too, but then again, I'm guessing a lot of Ko-Matoran share simillar color combinations. And Nuju's eyes are a bit darker…" she mused. Her sister nodded in agreement, but she suddenly held up her hands in a gesture of surrender.

"But hey, I only asked because you two seem real close, but if you're not related, that's my bad," she said to Matoro, "But either way, I bet your family is great if someone as nice as you came from them."

Apparently this was a very unwise move.

Nuju suddenly tensed up, his armor pressing down onto his body and sealing whatever seams he had in between them and his organic components. His back was ridged and straighter now, and he was giving the disturbingly calm Matoran by his side a strange look.

Matoro, on the other hand, was only smiling serenely at the girls like they were having a pleasant conversation. His visible eye, however, was a complete contrast to the otherwise friendly face. There seemed to be a burning blue fire behind it, but it was _cold_. There was ice and fire in that eye, a heavy, merciless stoniness that suggested pain and a white hot wrath. Combined with his seemingly harmless smile, it only made the emotional, _murderous_, eye seem all the more cold. It was a face – no, a mask – hidden behind a second mask, the only feature showing being that eye of his. An eye that screamed cold, fire, pain _pain pain_, _no mercy, don't stop, run run run don't look back survive fight back hopeless fire too much fire whips whips of fire and-_

'_Wait, whips…?'_ the girls seemed to have the same thought simultaneously. But before they could voice if they said something wrong, that smiling mouth beat them to it.

"So you have family units in your world as well?" if they thought his eye was an intense mix of soul crushing emotion, his voice was worse. It bellied the emotions he expressed on his mask with its soft and gentle tenor.

Suddenly the girls were very uncomfortable and intimidated. That gaze and face, as well as his all too calm voice, seemed to pin them down. Not unlike another gaze they knew of; but this time, it wasn't because of the malice held in it, but the _pain_…

"Um…yes, we do," Piper started slowly, "Most family, uh…units…consist of two adult figures, and one or more children…"

A curt nod from Matoro. Next to him, Nuju looked just as uncomfortable as the girls, but he seemed more pained, saddened. The air around them was strangled and thick; even the crabs seemed to be stuttering in their steps from the atmosphere.

"Um…" Pepper inquired meekly, "D-did we say something wrong?"

And almost like a switch had been flipped, the tense atmosphere was gone. In the blink of one visible sky blue eye, the whirlpool of emotions was _gone_.

"Not at all!" Matoro chirped, waving a hand dismissively, "And to answer your question, no, Nuju and I are not related. We're just fairly close."

The girls nodded. And the conversation was left at that. No one spoke anymore words after that; it was too awkward, too _painful_. The four instead took to observing the scenery as they cruised along the trail leading to a snow-capped mountain a couple miles off. Moments passed, and though he may have thought they weren't looking, the girls did not miss how Nuju discreetly brushed his fingers against Matoro's chest, just at the edges of that curious stone in his sternum. Matoro seemed to return the gesture with an incline of his head and a low noise from his throat. It was all oddly primal, yet familiar and warm.

A good ten minutes of silence passed between the four, and by this point, Pepper could not stand the silence. She leaned close to Piper and discreetly whispered to her,

"Well this isn't at all awkward…" she said. Piper leaned closer to her to speak.

"I know, but I didn't know asking about family would end up like…this." She said, obviously feeling a bit bad for whatever had offended them – more specifically, Matoro.

"Well now we know to steer clear of the subject," Pepper whispered, "Maybe talking about family to strangers is considered rude or something…?"

Piper frowned, "I don't think so. Matoro would have said so, not given us that…look…"

Pepper shuddered. In the few hours she and her sister had known Matoro, they both had liked him very much. He was sweet and kind, patient and gentle. And even with the very tiny slips from them, he never scolded or chastised them for any mistakes or misplaced words; he corrected them, but he never seemed angry or offended. And _never_ had he ever given them a look like _that._

'_Maybe he didn't have a very good upbringing…'_ Pepper thought, unknowing that her sister was wondering the same thing.

Though right now, she wanted to break this tension. It wasn't as suffocating as it was before, but it was still uncomfortable. They wouldn't feel right having this kind of strain between the two people who were giving them so much and welcoming them into their home. They needed to break the ice somehow.

"So…" Piper started, straightening up from whispering to her sister, "This place you guys live in, Vakama called it Ko-koro…?"

The two robotic beings seemed to perk up at the inquiry, and wasted no time in responding.

"Yes, our village, Ko-koro, is the village of ice, and resides between two glaciers up on Mt. Ihu." Matoro answered, gesturing a hand to the same mountain they were approaching.

"Village of ice…?" Pepper repeated. Nuju nodded.

"_We are of the ice element after all, so of course we live somewhere cold."_ He said mildly, still seemingly on edge from the last conversation topic. Piper blinked at the description before grinning.

"Cool." She said. The pun was terrible, but it at least coaxed a couple snorts from the others.

"You are such a dork, Piper." Pepper sighed fondly.

A few low chuckles were shared before they all lapsed back into silence. But unlike last time, it wasn't nearly as thick or tense. It couldn't necessarily be called a 'comfortable' silence, but it wasn't painful. The group simply took to watching their surroundings and inquiring a question about a plant or Rahi every now and again.

Though it wasn't brought up, the previous conversation left both girls curious, yet cautious.

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

"Are we there yet?" Piper rasped.

Pepper had to restrain herself from snapping at her sibling. She had asked that exact question at least ten times now, and that wasn't counting the extra three during their wagon-crab ride. Matoro more or less seemed amused by it, and Nuju…well, he just gave this exasperated look that spoke of how often he dealt with people like her sister. He didn't say anything, but Pepper was starting to notice him getting just the slightest bit impatient with Piper. Pepper had to wonder just how much sooner he would have snapped if Matoro wasn't with them.

Although, part of her wanted to ask what her sister has been whining for the past hour. She and her sister, along with their companions, had been scaling the snowy terrain for the better part of a half hour, and still they had yet to see any signs of anyone living on the mountain. They haven't even seen any Rahi!

"Just a little further," Matoro called over his shoulder. Both he and Nuju were further ahead up the slight incline they were walking – which seemed to piss Piper off. She thought Nuju was old! "I promise this time, it really is only a few steps further."

"You said that TEN TIMES!" Piper complained, cringing when her foot plunged through a loose pack of snow. Her sister fared worse; her shoes weren't meant for insolation after all.

"And you asked ten times," Matoro teased with a quirked brow, "Though really, do all humans wear out this easily?"

"Now you're just making fun of us poor, inferior humans…" Piper groused, though she was smirking. Matoro merely offered his trademark smile.

"Not at all." There was a hint of teasing in his tone, and they all picked up on it, especially Nuju – the grey and white Turaga was smirking ever so slightly.

But once again, a lull of silence fell upon them, and the girls were starting to worry it would become awkward or tense again. They absolutely loathed that kind of silence – they liked it when it was comfortably quiet. And granted, with the whispering hush of the tundra, and the crisp, clean air, the area would have been a great place to unwind and relax if it wasn't so damn cold. Coupled with the fact they were with two others, who were virtually still strangers, and of a different species, the atmosphere was just disconcerting.

But before either of the twins could make a weak attempt at conversation, Matoro turned to them once he reached the top of a slope.

"It's just through here." He gestured to a narrow tunnel that sat on a plateau. The tunnel itself was rather small, but not too small for them. It was perfectly sized for people like Nuju and Matoro. For the girls, it would be a bit of a squeeze, but doable.

"You mean it this time? You're not trying to lull us into a false sense of security, only for you to turn back and say we need to cross the Red Sea and climb Mt. Everest?" Piper rasped.

Nuju and Matoro fixed her confused looks and owlish eyes. They looked at each other, as if looking for the answers to their unspoken questions, before Matoro spoke.

"I'm not sure what those places are, but no, I promise, this _is _it," he clarified, "The Koro is hidden between two glaciers, and the only way in is through tunnels like these."

"Can't imagine how hard it must be to get mail here…" Piper muttered. Pepper rolled her eyes fondly, though mentally, she was agreeing. Did they even get mail like humans?

They stooped down as they entered the tunnel with the Turaga and Matoran. The tunnel itself was cold, unsurprising considering it was carved out of mirror-like ice. But due to its size and shape, it seemed to act like a wind tunnel. The girls visibly shivered as mild gales of wind whipped past them, stealing away their frozen breath and ruffling their hair.

When the small group had come to the end of the passage between the two massive glaciers, Matoro stopped before the two girls.

"Well, this is it! home sweet home." He said.

They came to a halt before a glorious, intricately carved gate of ice, and beyond it was a village of igloo-esque homes flanking a slope leading up to a large monument. Icy cliffs and sheers flanked all sides of the village, casting the homes and inhabitants in a blueish light. Icy cobblestone paths showed various routes weaving through the houses, shops, and other buildings. Various Matoran were visible as they silently moved about behind the gates, doing various jobs or conversing quietly to one another. The girls stared in awe as they approached, jaws gaping as they came to stand in front of the two snow covered statues flanking the gate.

"Wow, this is something else… I wish I had a desk to draw this…" Pepper sighed.

"It's beautiful…" piper said in amazement.

Pepper could only nod slowly, "Yeah. And these statues by the gate are so life-like"

She reached out a hand to stroke the top of the statues head.

"Who goes there?" The supposedly statue demanded.

At the sudden noise, both of the girls jumped.

"Judas Priest, IT TALKED!" Piper shrieked, while Pepper stood in a stunned stupor.

Matoro and Nuju both grinned and approached the girls. Matoro, trying to contain his laughter, explained.

"Ah, those aren't statues, those are the Ko-Koro guards," he said, calming the girls only ever so slightly, "Sorry, they're pretty…well, statuesque."

"No kidding…" Piper rasped, staring at the expressionless guards. They didn't seem very curious over the humans, but there was an undertone of suspicion in their eyes. The second one had not-so-discreetly edged closer to Nuju and Matoro, confirming her thoughts of their mistrust over them.

Pepper, unsure of whether to laugh or freak out, decided to change the subject. She shook some snow off of her shoes and composed herself from the fright, "Is everything here so white?"

"Heh, well it is covered in snow, but mostly on the outside," Matoro said, gesturing to the blue, white, and mildly grey landscape, "Inside you find a lot of blues, and other colors. Your home is over there, just below mine and Nuju's,"

He then points to a small hill along the town outskirts, hosting more homes on a slightly larger scale, and slightly more apart from one another, "It should be big enough for you, it was once our Toa's after all, until he decided to move to a more secluded area."

"Oh…" Piper said, thoughtful, "Where is he anyways?"

Pepper shivered as a new gust of particularly chilly wind ruffled her and her sister's flimsy clothing. She rubbed her arms and looked at the others, "I have no idea, but it's getting colder, isn't it?"

Piper nodded as she rubbed her arms, trying to regain some of her lost warmth. Matoro looked behind the girls with a sly smile, nodding at something behind them.

"And for good reason," he said, "Good evening, Toa."

The girls blinked stupidly, before they slowly turned around. Their eyes came to level with a glowing blue stone in a lean, silver armored chest. Inclining their heads further up, they came face to mask with a very tall, robotic being with a mask similar to Matoro's, yet set in a sterner, colder expression. The scope whirred as he regarded the humans, before redirecting his attention to the Turaga and his assistant.

"Matoro, Turaga Nuju…" the girls shuddered; his voice was low and husky, and carried a chilling deepness that reminded them of an icy cavern. Though to Piper, he sounded like Valshe…

"Who are these...people?" he asked carefully, regarding the girls again with one visibly narrowed eye. His scope once again whirred and focused on them, and the girls had the sudden urge to curl in on themselves to cover their bodies. What was he, an X-ray machine?

Piper was the first to speak – much to Pepper's dismay, "What the crap are you?"

Kopaka blinked, regarding her flatly, "Ah, it speaks. Not a Rahi I'm guessing."

Piper's brow twitched as she took a step forward towards the tall being, "Oh I'll give you a Rahi, right up your – mmph…!"

Pepper clamped a hand over her sister's mouth before some sort of balance was disturbed by her sister's rather…large repertoire of verbal assault. Matoro, sensing Piper's imminent verbal spew, jumped in.

"Um, Piper, Pepper, this is Kopaka, our village protector," he introduced, "Kopaka, these are friends of ours, Piper and Pepper. They're uh…not from around here."

"_Not really from this world to begin with…"_ Nuju added.

Pepper, still staring at the Toa, meekly offered what she hoped was a compliment, "You're tall…"

Kopaka, unimpressed, made a noncommittal noise reminisce of a grunt.

Piper raised a brow, "Not much of a talker are you, slick?"

Kopaka quirked a brow ridge at the comment, before looking back to his Turaga, "Who are these people?

Matoro, translating for Nuju, said, "We will explain to you later about who these two are. But for now, please wait for us at my office while we escort them to their new home."

"Hm, sure…" The Toa said, before turning towards the village. The guards opened the gate for him, and he shot the girls one last look, doing the same for Matoro and Nuju, "Good day then…"

As Kopaka walked off towards the Turaga's home, the temperature started to return to normal. It was still cold, but it wasn't nearly as eerily frigid anymore. Piper laughed airily suddenly, catching the other three's attention.

"Well isn't he just a ball of fun?" she said, cocking her head to one side as she watched the silver and white figure vanish into the village, "I like him."

Pepper's teeth were starting to chatter then, "Let's go then! I can't wait to get out of the cold…" she said, before her feet suddenly found a patch of slick ice, "GOD DAMN IT!" she yells as she slips on the ice and lands on her face.

Matorocringed apologetically as Piper helped her sister up, "Yeah I should probably mention there are more than a few ice patches around here."

"Gee, thanks for the warning…" Piper deadpanned.

Nuju rolled his eyes before he beckoned the guards to let them pass, and led the small group up through the village. The other Matoran stopped and stared at the new creatures that were being led through their village, making the girls feel just a bit more than put on display. They withdrew in on themselves meekly as the Matoran sized them up and wondered if they were potential threats. But they seemed to deem them to be of no harm, and returned to their daily life and work – much to their relief.

"We're here." Matoro's voice – translating for Nuju – brought them out of their resolve. They had topped the small hill, and came to face a nicely sized, cottage-like home.

It was a small two story cottage with a chimney that was just starting to give off smoke, the majority made up of rock-hard snow and ice, with a few wood and stone structures and supports here and there. It looked like one of the stone cottages they would see every now and again in the woods of their world where people came for vacation or camping trips.

And a Toa lived here? It certainly looked too nice and peaceful for someone as frigid as Kopaka. No wonder he moved; it must have looked too inviting for his tastes.

The girls gaped at the house, easily fifty times larger than their old shack. Matoro and Nuju watched patiently as the girls took the home in, both wondering if it was too much or too little for the humans.

They didn't need to wait long for their answer, and it more seemed to amuse them than reassure them.

"Woooooow…!" Piper rasped, Pepper only nodding dumbly by her in silent agreement. The blue-haired girl, awestruck, turned and nudged her sister.

"This is definitely better than the shack back home…"she said softly.

Oblivious to the Turaga and Matoran's sharp hearing, the mentioned two beings openly stared at the girls in shock.

"You've been living in _shack?_" Matoro asked.

Piper twitched, rubbing the back of her neck, before she not-so-discreetly dodged the question with a traditional reply, "It's a long story…"

"So, what does the inside look like?" Pepper jumped in, hoping to divert the conversation.

With a strange look at the girls, Nuju numbly dug into a pocket hidden in the folds of his mantle, and handed Piper the keys. Piper nodded in thanks and walked past Pepper to open up the door, both relieved that they dodged the issue of their previous residence.

Taking the key with a cheeky smile, Piper unlocked the door, and the two walked in. Their eyes widened in wonder at the interior. The house was fully furnished, a comfortably sized living room giving way to a spacious kitchen, dining room, and what looked to be some sort of den or office on the other side of the room by the stairs. Pepper wandered over into the kitchen, finding the pantry, cupboards, and the strangely average looking fridge still stocked with food.

"We used to use the house as a kind of one-on-one meeting place and guest house for when the Toa came to our village." Matoro explained at the blue haired girl's questioning look.

Piper, who was testing out the rather plush couch and the soft, white furred pelt on its back, finally looked up at her sister as the other stepped into the living room. The Turaga and Matoran startled slightly as they suddenly started jabbering to each other in animated excitement, their words becoming jumbled gibberish in their excitement. The two cringe slightly when the girls suddenly let loose a double high-pitch scream, and bolted up the stairs.

Their rushing footsteps could be heard all the way down in the living room, and the two robotic beings stared up at the ceiling in surprised astonishment.

"We have beds now!" they heard Piper cry in delight.

"And they have SHOWERS!" Pepper cried out.

Another high pitched scream assaulted their sensitive ears, before the sound of what Matoro could only describe as a stampede came barreling down the stairs. Said stampede – aka the girls – suddenly lurched and changed direction, flying towards the unsuspecting Turaga and Matoran. They didn't stand a chance, and soon found two pairs of arms wrapped around their necks and torsos in a constricting group-hug.

"Thank you so much!" the girls crowed, sounding close to tears.

Nuju shifted a bit uncomfortably at the close contact, unaccustomed to physical contact. He was too stunned to really do anything, let alone push the girls away. Matoro, sensing the Turaga's discomfort finally wiggled his mouth out of the confines of Piper's shoulder and spoke.

"You're both welcome," he says brightly, before managing to pry himself and Nuju politely out of their death grip. The Turaga grumbled and straightened his mantle, before Matoro spoke.

"If you need anything, I live in that house on the left," Matoro gestured outside to a cosy looking one story house a few yards away, next to a two story home similar to their own new home, "Nuju is right next door. I'll come over and fill you both in on where to get supplies and food once you're settled."

"This is too good to be true…!" Pepper rasped, wide eyed and grinning like a fool.

Nuju scoffed humorously, _"Well, it's true. Get used to it."_

"Yay! I now finally have some place to do some drawing!" Pepper cheered.

"And we haven't even seen half this place…" Piper squealed and bolted back up the stairs, her sister hot on her heels.

Nuju rolled his eyes while Matoro beamed beside him. The stomping from upstairs suddenly stopped, the girls facing each other as they rushed out of another room. They knew they were thinking the same thing with just a look, and with much calmer steps, they both climbed down the stairs and stood before the Turaga and Matoran.

Solemnly, Piper spoke, "One last thing you two?"

"Yes?" Matoro inquired, looking vaguely amused by their antics.

Piper looked at her sister one last time. Choosing her words carefully (for once), she fidgeted with her fingers momentarily before speaking.

"This…this isn't a dream, is it?" she asked softly, her sister nodding pleadingly beside her, "I asked this when the voice told us we'd come here, and so far he's given us what he said, but..."

Matoro smiled softly at them, "But doubt still remains for something like this."

"Yeah…" Piper said meekly.

Nuju, silently regarding the girls, suddenly approached Piper. The two regarded one another, Piper iwht wide, expecting eyes, and Nuju with a deadpan, cold stare. He suddenly swept his staff in an arch, and cold-clocks it across her head.

"Ow!" piper yelped, holding her head and snarling at Nuju, "What the hell man!? What was that for!?"

"_That hurt?"_ Nuju deadpans with a raised brow.

"YES it hurt you motherfu-…" Piper suddenly paused. It had _hurt,_ "…oh you're good. Still a jerk though."

Matoro laughed, "He gets that a lot." Nuju only snorted, but was smirking in amusement. The girls seemed flabbergasted for words before they soon found their voices.

"Then…this is all real…" Pepper said shakily. No sooner did her eyes start to water, and she suddenly burst into tears. Piper wasn't about to be left behind, as she too also started wailing to the ceiling like a child who had her favorite toy stolen.

Nuju suddenly looked uncomfortable and blinked owlishly, unsure as to how to take the sudden burst of emotions. The girls had been so happy not even a few seconds ago, and now they're bawling their eyes out for some unknown reason. Madness!

Matoro, however, only smiled and placed a patient hand against his Turaga's arm.

"It's okay, Nuju, they're just happy," he said, "It's not the first time you've seen someone crying from relief.

The Turaga shook his head slowly, averting his gaze to his assistant, _"No, but still…it's different somehow."_

Matoro chuckled, but no sooner yelped as eh was pulled once again into a tight embrace.

"Thank you both of you! How can we ever repay you?" Pepper asked.

Matoro waved a hand, "Just do what you need to be happy. That's all I can ask for."

Piper sniffled and wiped her nose and eyes with her flimsy sleeves. She tried to keep her voice even, but still ended up sounding like a raspy, dripping candle.

"You can't be for real. No one is this nice," she said, "We've never met a person like you…

Matoro only offered a shrug, "Maybe humans different, but then again, I'm not human now am I?"

"No, you're not," Pepper said shakily, her voice broken from crying so hard, "But you are still one of the kindest people I've ever met!

Again, a red flush took over the small being's cheeks. Nuju smirked and chuckled by his side, seemingly beaming with pride.

"_Not surprising honestly. He's always been a softie." _He grinned.

"Look who's talking!" Matoro cried, shoving Nuju's arm. The Turaga only chuckled lowly and faced the two girls again.

"_If you must repay us, you can help out around the village when it's needed,"_ he said, _"We can use help with rather mundane things around the shops, or the monasteries. Though, we'll have to procure you both some warmer cloth…"_

"Hey, if you have some good fabric laying around, I can take care of the clothes." Piper said.

"And we can definitely do chores, or other things around here," Pepper chipped in, "We're not really trained in much, but I can cook. If it's edible, I can make it into something great!"

"I can blow shit up?" Piper offered with a cheeky grin, and earning an incredulous look from her sister and raised brows from the other two, "Heh, kidding. I'm decent at organizing stuff and cleaning."

Nuju nodded in approval, _"That's perfectly fine, and enough to earn your keep here."_

The girls squealed, and the Matoran and Turaga were afraid they would be in for another surprise hug. But the girls restrained themselves and merely grinned at the two.

"You guys are so awesome…" Pepper said, "Thank you."

"It's no trouble, really." Matoro said lightly.

"_And like Matoro said, if you need anything, we're just a walk away,"_ Nuju said, _"We'll have some fabric samples sent over tomorrow for clothing, so until then, you two are free to use the time to relax and settle in."_

Relief seemed to flood the girls then, and suddenly they felt exhausted. The excitement, the stress, the hike, suddenly waking up in a whole different world – it was all catching up to them. All they wanted to do now was collapse onto the nearest plush surface – or the floor really – and sleep.

The Turaga and Matoran seemed to take notice of this – considering their suddenly slouched positions and glazed eyes.

The girls seemed to completely zone out and lose all sense of reality. Because in what felt like the blink of an eye, they found themselves lying in a the large bed they had seen upstairs. They were in a dazed fog, not registering as they were weightlessly set onto the comfortable bed via familiar mask power from a certain ice Turaga. The heavy blankets were pulled up and over them by the small Matoran by the Turaga's side, and before they could give out an incoherent word, the blinds were shut, and the lights turned out.

The Matoran and Turaga paused at the door, Matoro giving them a small smile.

"Rest well, Piper and Pepper." He said softly. He then turned a knob on what looked to be a strange lamp, and its top slid away to reveal a glowing crystal that gave the room a dim glow; almost like a nightlight.

"Nigh'…" was all the two could blearily manage.

A low chuckle, and the door shifted so it was left open a crack. Silent footsteps traveled down the stairs, before a light pause, and then the sound of their front door being shut quietly. The girls were now alone, _in_ _their own_ _home_.

Silence descended upon the room, and bleary eyes stared up at the ceiling. All of which, they barely noticed, was dotted with tiny, pin-point lights and an icy blue sheen; a night sky.

"We…we're home…" Piper rasped.

They felt a familiar heat build up behind their eyes and in their throats. But instead of anguish, the choking tears of joy were all too welcome to them. Silently giving one last prayer to the voice that brought them to the strange new world, the twins shut their eyes, and fell asleep.

To be continued…

**X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X**

_A/N~ Phew, I think this is the longest chapter of WFTE. And as you can tell, some things have changed. At least mostly in the first chapter, everything else has just been edited. So, I hope you readers enjoy!_

_Read and review please!_

_~M_


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